Steel Bars Wrapped Around Me
by AkiraDawn
Summary: It's been a year since Cloud officially moved in.  Leave it to Cloud to come up with a stupid idea to celebrate Tifa's birthday but leave it to Tifa to turn that idea into one amazing and somewhat sentimental getaway. Rated M for a Reason!
1. It's Not a Girl Bike

Steel Bars Wrapped Around Me

_I've Been You're Prisoner Since the Day You Found Me_

And now, my personal challenge of following the 'Strife Family' for a year has come full circle! That's not to say this will be the last of my stories, no, no. I'm not sure where I'll go from here but I hope you enjoy the final story in the first 'year'!

I don't own Final Fantasy, it belongs to Square Enix.

Tifa was engrossed in her magazine. The TV was on in the background but she wasn't paying it any attention. It appeared that Cloud was reading the newspaper beside her but really he kept glancing at her repeatedly. Finally, his impatience got the best of him. He closed the newspaper and tossed it aside.

"Okay, if you're not going to tell me what you want to do for your birthday I have an idea…" he started.

"Alright." Was Tifa's reply. She didn't look up from her magazine.

"You remember the chocobo farm outside of the Mythrill Mines?" he asked.

"Of course I remember them." Tifa said.

"I've been thinking lately…what if…we bought some property there? You know, like…kind of a sort of vacation home. We could buy property that adjoins part of the farm and even have enough land to raise a breeding pair of chocobos." Tifa looked up from the page that she was infatuated with the most bizarre of looks on her face. "Think about it! We could have small a ranch style house in those rolling farmlands. Me and Cid could build a stable. Marlene and Denzel would have so much fun with a little chocobo; taking care of it. You remember the kid they called chocobo Billy? I bet he's still raising chocobos on the farm. He could teach them to ride and how feed them properly. They would have so much fun in their first chocobo race." Cloud paused. Tifa was still staring at him. She had completely stopped looking at her magazine.

"Oh my god…do you even hear what you're saying?" Tifa questioned.

"What, you don't think that sounds wonderful? To have a place in the country away from Midgar?" Cloud pressed onward.

"Why do you hate me?" Tifa asked teasingly, keeping a straight look on her face.

"Okay, so you're not 100 percent on this. Maybe you want to think about it for a little while." Cloud said.

"Yes, Cloud. That's exactly what I want…something else to take care of." Tifa said sarcastically as she returned to her magazine.

"You seriously don't think that sounds like a good idea?" Cloud insisted.

"No…no baby…that's a horrible idea. First, chocobos are a hell of a lot of work. We would have to hire someone to care for them when we were here. We would have over 10,000 gil in feeding them alone. That's not even considering stable fees or the costs of purchasing a breeding pair. Second, the last thing in the entire world we need is another home. A timeshare or something like that would be a good idea but no…we don't need any more property, Cloud Strife. Third…how the hell did you dream up this idea?" Tifa finished.

"I don't know…I guess…I guess I was just thinking how the kids have never seen that part of the world…how much they would enjoy it. I was also thinking about the fact that…they're getting older. It's not going to be long that they'll want to be with their friends more and more and us less and less." Cloud confessed to her.

"Okay, Cloud…buying a breeding pair of chocobos and property near the farms is not going to keep our kids with us. Yes, you're right. They are going to want to be with their friends and…you know, they're going to have interests that don't include us. But, we need to support them and love them and…they'll still be our kids." Tifa said.

"So, other couples with kids…they're like…glad when their kids reach this stage because the sex returns to their marriage….right?" Cloud said.

"Yes…at least that's what all the Marlene's friends' moms say." Tifa said returning to her magazine. Cloud sighed.

"Well, yeah…I mean…sure the kids are getting older…so are you telling me that four times a week turns in to six?" Cloud asked her.

"That's what I'm telling you. Savor it." Tifa said.

"But my god, Tifa….I'm so tired sometimes. I can't fuck you six days a week" Cloud said letting his head hit the back of the couch.

"Oh, Cloud…twenty-seven going on fifty-five. Oh, happy birthday me." Tifa mumbled as she engrossed herself in an article.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! That is….that is so not true! I can fuck you six days a week." Cloud said.

"You just said you couldn't and don't point at me…I'm reading this." Tifa said not taking her eyes off her magazine. Cloud was getting ready to say something but he didn't get the chance because the front door went flying open.

"I hate Ms. Yamatsu! She's a total bitch!" Denzel said throwing his backpack in the floor. Tifa immediately shot her eyes upward and threw her magazine on the table in front of her. "What did you just say?" she asked very matter of factly. Denzel looked up at her cold eyes. He knew he had just overstepped the line. "What…did you…just say?" Tifa repeated after the silence from Denzel.

"I said Ms. Yamatsu was a bitch." Denzel said swallowing hard. Sure, Cloud could scare Denzel or Marlene for a good thirty seconds but Tifa could put the fear of god in them for an indeterminate amount of time.

"Get over here….right now." Cloud said moving toward the edge of the couch. Oh, Denzel knew he had it coming. He walked over to where Cloud was and stood in front of him. Cloud's eyes were even colder than Tifa's.

"You listen to me…you never…_ever_…say something like that about your teacher or ANY woman for that matter…do you hear me?" Cloud asked.

"Yes." Denzel said unconvincingly.

"I said…do you hear me?" Cloud repeated.

"Yes, sir." Denzel said more affirmatively this time.

"You listen to me….if you ever…EVER say something like that again…I swear Denzel Lloyd…I will knock your mouth off your face. And if you don't think I'm serious about that….try me." Cloud said not breaking his gaze with Denzel's.

"Would you to tell us why you're using that kind of language?" Tifa asked. Denzel shook his head.

"I don't guess." He said.

"If you can stand there and have the gall to call your teacher a bitch then you can stand there like a man and tell us what's going on." Tifa insisted seriously. Now _that_…Denzel was scared of….

"Well…" Denzel started to sit down beside Cloud.

"No…any man in this house that uses that language will stand." Tifa insisted.

"Yes, ma'am." Denzel said quickly standing back up.

"Now…tell us what's going on." Tifa said sincerely.

"I got blamed for something that I didn't do in Ms. Yamatsu's class. I got in trouble and it wasn't even my fault, I swear! There were two boys that stole a test key off her desk to get the answers. When she walked back in the classroom one of them shoved the key in my back pocket before she could see that I had it. I promised her that I didn't do it but she took one of my respect stars anyway. Caitlyn stayed after class to talk to her about what really happened because I was so mad at her.

"Don't you think that after Caitlyn talks to her about what really happened she'll give your star back? She knows you're not a troublemaker. She had to do what she did because she didn't see what happened. She'll make it up to you Denzel." Tifa promised him.

"I don't care! I didn't…" Cloud stopped him.

"You don't ever take that tone with Tifa, young man. You raise your voice to her again like that and you'll wish you hadn't." Cloud warned him.

"I'm sorry, Tifa. I'm just upset. I didn't mean it." Denzel said honestly.

"I know honey…just listen a minute. Let's think about this." Tifa put her hands on his shoulders. "Your friend Caitlyn told Ms. Yamatsu what really happened. When you go to school tomorrow I'm sure she will make it all okay and penalize those two boys instead. If she doesn't say something to you, then you say something to her. It'll be okay. No one likes to get blamed for something they didn't do." Tifa assured him as she pushed his hair away from his eyes.

"It'll be okay Denzel. If it's not then Tifa will call her and talk to her about what happened, okay?" Cloud asked him. Denzel shook his head yes but his eyes were fixed on the ground.

"Come here, give me a hug." Tifa said wrapping Denzel in her arms. Denzel squeezed his arms around her. "You have any homework?" she asked.

"No, I got it all done at school." Denzel mumbled into her shoulder.

"Okay, well Cloud's going to start dinner here in a little bit." Tifa said rubbing his back.

"He is?" Cloud asked, looking at Tifa.

"Yes…he is. I'm exhausted from going in to the bar this morning at 6:30 AM and cleaning dishes since the dish boy broke his leg. You have no idea how many dishes I washed today. I don't care what you fix…but you're fixing it." Tifa said.

"Okay…I'll fix something…but I don't guarantee the quality of my product." Cloud said standing up.

"That's alright…if I don't like dinner, I'll love desert. That is…unless you're too tired to dish it out." Tifa said winking.

"Oh, you are so not funny. Listen to you all…sitting there still being twenty-six. You just wait until tomorrow when you're twenty-seven. You won't want any desert at all…you'll just want to turn the fan on and curl up underneath your blanket." Cloud said pulling a box of something from the cabinet.

"No Cloud, tomorrow is my birthday…I'll want and seconds and thirds so you might as well turn on the fan and curl up under the blanket right now 'cause you obviously need to get some rest." Tifa said.

"What kind of desert are we making for your birthday?" Denzel asked innocently. Tifa laughed.

"Oh honey…the kind that…seems to be a challenge for Cloud." Tifa said putting her hand on the top of Denzel's head. Cloud narrowed his eyes and shook his head at Tifa.

"Hey, where's Marlene?" Denzel asked.

"She's with Barett. He's bringing her by later tonight." Tifa explained.

"Oh. Well, I'm going to go change clothes." Denzel said letting go of Tifa.

"Okay, sweetie." Tifa let go of him and Denzel took off for his room. "Oh my god…Cloud…that can't seriously be what you're going to fix?" Tifa said glancing over at the countertop to see a box of pasta, a jar of mushrooms, and an orange. Cloud shook his head.

"No…I had to move all these stupid things out of the way to find this takeout menu. I mean seriously, why do we have this takeout menu jammed between a box of pasta and an orange?" Cloud asked.

"Who knows. I want a sub, but with no onion and I want a cup of the tomato bisque." Tifa said. "Denzel! Denzel, come back in here a minute and tell Cloud what you want from this menu!" Tifa yelled at him. He hurried back and perched himself up on the barstool at the kitchen counter. Cloud handed the menu over to him and searched around for the phone.

"I just want the breadsticks." Denzel said hopping down from the barstool and handing the menu back to Cloud. He took off again to his room. Tifa returned to her magazine while Cloud phoned in their order. He snapped his fingers and pointed to Tifa's purse. That meant: give me the credit card so I can pay for this now. She dug around until she found her checkbook. She handed the card over to Cloud and returned to her magazine.

"Twenty-five minutes." Cloud said hanging up the phone and tossing it aside. He shoved Tifa's credit card back into her checkbook. "Now, about the chocobo farm. What if we just drove up there for three or four days?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah…yeah, I'd like that. Now, _that _would be a nice little trip." Tifa gasped. "Oooh you know what we could do? That would make a great road trip for Denzel. He would get so much practice. You could ride with Denzel on his bike and Marlene and I will take the Fenrir and…" Cloud cut Tifa off with his hand shoved in her face.

"Wait…wait…wait…wait…wait….wait. First…Fenrir is NOT a girl bike. So, with that being said me and Denzel will take the Fenrir and you and Marlene can take the car." Cloud said. Tifa threw her magazine on the table in front of her again.

"First…you have some serious attachment issues when it comes to the Fenrir. Second, the whole point of such a fun road trip would be for Denzel to get practice on _his _bike. He can't ride it alone and you know that. Third…me and Marlene are taking the Fenrir. Besides Cloud, the sight of _me_ on _your _bike is enough to make you lose control." Tifa said.

"You're not gonna win this one just because you're hot…Fenrir is NOT a girl bike. Denzel can drive it." Cloud's argument was weak because Denzel most certainly could not. It was just too big for him.

"I'll be wearing a black racerback tank top and my ripped up jeans for this trip. I'll need to find my leather gloves and if we leave tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny so I'll need some sunblock. When you leave for work tomorrow morning, I'll have 'er gassed up and ready to go when the kids are home from school. I'll pack for the both of us tomorrow. The kids can pack tonight." Tifa said. "By tomorrow night, I'll be spending my birthday nestled within the hills of the Mythrill Mines, holding a glass of champagne and staring at the stars." Cloud just stared at her.

"Where in the world are you going to get champagne?" he finally asked.

"Downstairs, from Leo." Tifa said.

"What do you think I got you? Do you think I got you something good?" Cloud asked.

"I haven't the slightest idea." She answered.

"Ooh it's somethin' good. And by somthin' good I don't mean a grocery store gift card." Cloud promised her. Tifa laughed.

"Alright, so it's settled….me, Marlene and the Fenrir. Look out chocobo farm here come the Strife's." she said.

"It…might be a good idea to call and make sure a cabin is available." Cloud said reaching for the phone again.


	2. A Very Happy Birthday

There was no more pleasant feeling than waking to the feeling of wispy blond hair teasing her abdomen. Tifa tilted her head back and moaned quietly, her voice getting lost in the hum of the fan that was perched in front of the open window. She let her hands slide up her body and over her face, careful to not make too much noise. She could feel her thighs being shoved farther apart. She didn't object and the way she couldn't help but arch her back was a sure indicator that she liked what she felt. It always excited Cloud beyond belief to hear her utter his name softly and breathlessly. Right now was on exception. The real question now would be how Cloud planned to finish what he had started. The clock read 5:57. He had to be up for work in three minutes and the kids would be getting up for school in three minutes. So basically…he had three minutes to finish this. Tifa could feel Cloud's hands on her hips, shoving her into the softness of their mattress. She grabbed the pillow underneath her and slightly buried her face in the corner of it.

Cloud wished so much that there were more than just three minutes on that clock. He had already had her going for ten minutes…he wanted to turn it in to thirty…he would have to settle for the hand he was dealt. He could hear her whimper faster and faster. Tifa tried to buckle her hips against Cloud's hands but he had her more firmly pressed into the mattress. There was one minute to spare as Tifa cried out into the corner of her pillow. It was the sweetest sound ever. Cloud let his hands slide up her body, pulling himself up along the way. He moved the pillow away from her face and put his forehead on hers. Her hot breath hit his chin as she dug her fingers into his hair. Her diamond always pulled at the stray strands. Cloud pressed his lips into hers. Tifa could always taste herself every time he did this….she never cared.

"Happy Birthday…" he told her in between his kisses. His voice was soft. Tifa laughed sweetly.

"Yes…it is." She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders. Her body was raging, still weakened and trembly from the pleasure surging through her. The alarm blared on the nightstand beside them. Tifa moaned in disgust as Cloud slammed a hand down on it. He sighed deeply, letting his breath hit Tifa's face.

"I wish you didn't have to go to work. You could stay right here on me all morning." She said as he let his weight sink into her.

"I'll be home at one. How about I stay on you all night tonight instead?" He kissed her forehead.

"I think it's a great idea. I'll have everything packed up and ready to go today." Tifa promised. She squirmed a little underneath Cloud.

"No, no…just lay here. Don't get up. I'll get Marlene and Denzel off to school. Go back to sleep, okay?" Cloud kissed her.

"After that, I most definitely will." She said before kissing him once more. She knew he had to get up and get dressed not to mention get the kids out the door. Tifa didn't even bother pulling the covers up around her. Instead she rolled over to her side. The sight of her was beautiful, laying there in the early morning sunrise with her bare back exposed and her long hair shoved to the side. Cloud started pulling things out of a drawer and he hoped Tifa would get the message that he wanted to take the pile he had laid on top of the dresser.

It didn't take Cloud long to get ready. "Hey Tifa?" he called to her as he strung some stuff across the bathroom counter. She didn't answer. He glanced over at her. She was fast asleep. He would write her a note instead and leave it in here.

Cloud closed the door of their bedroom and walked down the hall to make sure that the kids were up. "Hey, you up?" Cloud asked knocking on Denzel's half opened door.

"Yeah, I'm up. Am I gonna miss baseball practice today?" Denzel asked opening up his closet.

"Yeah. We're leaving as soon as you two get home today." Cloud told him. Since early April Denzel had been trying his hand at baseball and he had displayed quite the natural ability for it. Unlike soccer, which had been a miserable flop; Denzel had the arm for baseball and his coach thought he batted well. Once again, it was yet another sport that neither Cloud nor Tifa knew ANYTHING about.

"I can't wait to get on the bike!" Denzel said.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Cloud said making his way to Marlene's room. He knocked on her door. "Marlene? You up?" he called to her.

"Yeah." She called back. That gave Cloud the go ahead to throw something out on the table for the kids' breakfast and pack their lunches. Denzel was always the first one ready in the mornings and he was always ready with plenty of time to spare. Marlene was always the one that Tifa was yelling at to get her out the door before the bus left. Cloud was relieved when he opened the refrigerator only to find two of those pre-packaged lunch combos. He hated putting forth any effort when it came to packing their lunches. Pre-assembled assortments of deli meats, crackers and some kind of cheese was exactly his lunch solution to everything. Throw a can of soda in their bags and they were all set.

"Here, will you put this bow in my hair? I can't reach it." Marlene said handing her ribbon over to Cloud.

"You know you can't wear that tank top to school right? It's not in the dress code." He said spinning her around.

"I know! I have another shirt I'm putting over it." Marlene assured him.

"Good. Let me see how short your shorts are." Cloud put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face him now that he had her bow in her hair. He sighed.

"They aren't too short!" Marlene said.

"Well, they're close but…whatever. The one thing Tifa and I will never agree on is your clothes. Go ahead and eat your breakfast." Cloud said running a brush quickly through her long ponytail. Marlene sat at the table with Denzel.

"Cloud? Why are we going to some stupid chicken farm?" Marlene asked.

"It's not stupid and it's a chocobo farm." Cloud said shoving some bread into the toaster.

"What's a chocobo?" Denzel asked.

"It's a large breed of flightless bird. In the country, they use chocobos to work on farms. They're quick birds so they're also used a lot in racing." Cloud explained.

"What if we get bored while we're gone?" Marlene asked.

"I promise you won't. It's going to be fun. Did you two pack Tifa's birthday gift?" Cloud questioned them.

"It's in my duffle." Marlene assured him.

"I have the card." Denzel said.

"Good." Cloud said pulling the toast out of the toaster and throwing it on the nearest plate.

"So, what did you get Tifa for her birthday? Is it something good?" Marlene asked.

"I think it's something good." He said. He sat down at the kitchen counter and poured a glass of juice. "Denzel, if your teacher doesn't say something to you about what happened yesterday you let us know." He reminded him. Denzel shook his head.

"Why isn't Tifa up?" Marlene asked.

"She took the day off after her long day at work yesterday." Cloud said. "You two finish up there. You've got to be downstairs in five minutes. Here's your lunches." Cloud shoved the bags toward the edge of the counter as he returned to he and Tifa's bedroom to get his watch from the dresser. He was careful in opening the door. Tifa was truly a breathless sight as she laid there completely drifted away; unaware of the morning unfolding around her. The white noise of the fan had turned their bedroom into a sort of peaceful retreat. He closed the door just as quietly as before as he left her alone once more.

"Okay, you two. I'll see you after school." Cloud said hugging both Marlene and Denzel before grabbing the car keys and motioning the kids out the door. He nearly always took the car into town for the simple fact it cost seven dollars more on the week to park a bike in the city. It made absolutely no sense but it was Midgar city policy.

"Bye Cloud!" Marlene and Denzel called in near unison as they hurried out the door and down the stairs. It was routine, the kids always waited in front of the 7th Heaven building and Cloud or Tifa always watched them until they got on the bus before either of them left the apartment. This was Cloud's last chance to reconsider going to work today and curl up in bed with Tifa again. He turned the kitchen lights out before heading out the door and locking it behind him.

Tifa was up and moving by 8:45. The first thing she noticed was the note Cloud had left her in the bathroom: 'If you go to the store get some stuff that's easy to pack to take with us.' That was vague enough to work. Of course, every single note Cloud ever left Tifa was vague. She knew she had several things to accomplish before they left today. She could tell by the stack Cloud had left behind that it was his way of pre-packing. He was lucky that she could read his every move. Tifa started going through her drawers quickly. She already knew what she wanted anyway. As she threw things on the bed behind her she thought about her birthday the previous year: A year ago today a million emotions were swirling through her head. She had an apartment full of delivery boxes and a roomful of unresolved tension. One year ago she working her ass off and trying her best to explain to two children why Cloud was constantly in and out of their lives. One year ago, Tifa was trying desperately to tell everyone around her that she wasn't _really_ a mother…that _this _was temporary. And then…one year ago on this very day in May everything…absolutely _everything_…changed. Now here she was a year later, wearing seven karats worth of rock, a married woman and more sure about everything than she ever had been before. Amazing how her life had changed in so little time. Tifa turned around and crammed everything into the bag behind her. She dug another bag out of the closet, took it into the bathroom and shoved everything on the counter into it. The kids had their stuff sitting in the living room ready to be loaded. Tifa thought it best to get to the store before it got crowded. She would never admit it out loud…but she always worried when she went to the store during the day. She didn't want people to think she was one of 'those' women….the ones who stayed at home all day while their husbands worked. There was nothing wrong with 'those' women…it's just that she never wanted to be one of them. Tifa never worried really about what others thought…except for this. This was the one thing she obsessed over when she went out like this. For a moment she thought about changing her clothes. After all, she did scoop them off the floor and put them on this morning. But it was just a quick run and besides why care about how she looked right now? She had a killer bike.

Hey all! Sorry for the slow update and the short chapter I've been slammed lately and battling strep. The next update will come much sooner!


	3. Spaghetti O's

Tifa and Marlene were in the front with Cloud and Denzel behind them as the four of them wound through the countryside. Tifa loved driving Cloud's bike. Every opportunity she had to get behind the handlebars she took with gusto. Of course, it was nice being the passenger too. Her mind wandered as she thought about some of the rides she and Cloud had taken together…the way she would wrap her arms around his waist and jam her thumbs into the top of his pants. It always made him so nervous and yet he never wanted her to stop. Tifa was so lost in the mere thought of slipping her fingers into Cloud's pants that she nearly missed the turn that would lead the four of them down the dirt road into the deep country. "Hold on tight! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Tifa said as loudly as she could to Marlene, hoping she would hear her warning. Marlene was sitting in front of Tifa and she held on to the grab bar in front of her as tightly as she could.

It was a gradual shift, the asphalt turned to gravel, and then eventually the gravel would turn to dirt. Both bikes would be an absolute mess once they hit the dusty trail. Marlene was infatuated with the world around her. Neither of the kids had ever been this far out into the country. Even though Marlene was born in the tiny isolated town of Mount Corel, much more remote than the chocobo farm, she was far too small to remember being there. She had been raised in the city since she was three. As for Denzel, the country was a truly amazing sight. He kept commenting to Cloud loudly about all the grass; so much lush rolling grasslands as far as the eye could see. Denzel hadn't had a freer feeling in the world than being out here in the middle of the plains with his bike. Frankly, it had been the best ride ever between a "father" and "son." Cloud could finally see that Denzel was handling this bike far better than he was two months ago.

At last they had hit the dirt road but Tifa soon pulled over to the side. Denzel slowed down and pulled up beside her. "You two go in front." Tifa yelled motioning her hand in front of her. She worried the dust would aggravate Denzel's allergies and she figured letting he and Cloud in front of her and Marlene would create less of a dust plume for him. The Fenrir kicked up far more dust then Denzel's bike did. They wouldn't have far to travel. They had nearly reached the Mythrill Mines which also meant the chocobo farm was close by. As the four of them rode through a cloud of dust, the cabins that lined the lake near the mines came in to view. Tifa's mind began to wander again as the sun beat off her dark sunglasses. This place held a lot of memories and those memories were flooding back quickly. The first time she was ever at this place she hadn't even met Yuffie Kisaragi or Cid Highwind, or even Vincent Valentine. It was just her and Barret, Aerith and Cloud. Once again, time had changed and shaped her life in ways she had once never anticipated. She didn't think she would ever be back here, let alone with a family she never thought she would have…or even planned on.

Once again, Tifa snapped out of her daydream as she realized she was approaching the cabin rental office. In fact, she nearly passed it up in her trance-like state. She brought the Fenrir to a slow, rolling stop as the tires sunk into the dirt and gravel. Cloud and Denzel had parked in the very front of the cabin office where it was clearly posted 'no parking'. Leave it to them to be such social deviants.

"Are we here?" Marlene asked running her hands over her pulled back hair.

"Yep. It looks like Cloud is going to go inside that office with Denzel to get our key. You want to get off the bike for a bit while they are in there?" Tifa asked tugging at her jeans once she got off the Fenrir.

" Yeah, I do. Hey, Tifa? Why does Cloud get all crazy and freak out if I show my stomach but he doesn't freak out over your stomach showing?" Marlene asked. As she examined Tifa's bare stomach. Tifa laughed.

"Oh, honey. There are many, many, many reasons." Tifa said trying her best to be as vague as possible.

"Well, it's stupid." Marlene said rolling her eyes.

"I know…but just remember what Cloud thinks is stupid and what you and I think is stupid are two completely different things." Tifa said tugging at the edges of her tank top.

"He needs a reality check." Marlene said. Tifa put her arms over Marlene's shoulders.

"Cloud needs a lot of things, sweetie. He always has and he always will." Tifa said even though she knew Marlene would never begin to fathom the depths of that statement. "Do you think it's pretty here?" Marlene shook her head.

"It's really quiet too." Marlene observed.

"No wonder. You're in the country now." Tifa explained.

"Do you think the lake water is cold?" Marlene asked pointing to the vast body of water before them in the near distance.

"It probably is. I bet it hasn't had a chance to warm up too much yet. But you'll find out tomorrow." Tifa said noticing Cloud and Denzel coming out of the rental office. Cloud had a handful of papers. He folded them and shoved them into his back pocket.

"It's the fourth one down in the closest row to the lake." Cloud yelled at Tifa.

"We'll follow you." Tifa yelled back slinging her leg over the bike once again. It wasn't the way she gracefully mounted that bike that drove Cloud insane. It was the way she pulled her sunglasses over her eyes. It looks could…get someone in to bed…the look Cloud was giving Tifa right now would have worked a thousand times over. Marlene climbed on behind Tifa since it would be a very short ride to their cabin site. Tifa would have preferred Marlene in front of her had it been a longer ride. This was a serene place, the calmness of the country could be felt all around as Tifa slowly followed the dirt path toward the cabins. She could see the cabin, which they were assigned. They weren't far from it at all even though it as was at the very end of the lake's edge.

Marlene was holding on to Tifa's belt as she tried her best to take in every sight around her even still. "Are there really caves over there?" Marlene asked pointing to the mountain range over Tifa's shoulder.

"Uh huh. Deep caves. Sometimes there are creatures in those caves that you don't really want to meet." Tifa explained as they slowed to a stop in the back of the cabin.

"Tifa! Did you see how well I did!" Denzel asked, obviously referring to his ability to handle his bike.

"Well, honey, you were behind us for most of the trip so no I can't say as I did. You do a good job?" she asked opening the hatches on Fenrir.

"Yep. Just ask Cloud." Denzel said unlocking a compartment on the side of his bike.

"He did do a good job. A very good job in fact. Listen, I'm going to unlock the cabin and I need to take a shower because I'm covered in dust from that road, as you can tell. Denzel you should do the same." Cloud told him.

"You should take your inhaler too." Tifa reminded Denzel. "Me and Marlene will unload this stuff and that's actually not a bad idea because we're both pretty dirty too." Tifa said.

"What about Tifa's birthday present Cloud? I wanna give it to her!" Denzel said.

"We'll do that after we get cleaned up." Cloud promised him. "You can stay dirty if you want." Cloud kissed Tifa's cheek quickly. She smiled as she slung one of their bags over her shoulder. "Come on Marlene let's take this load in." Tifa told her. Marlene had her hands full as she stumbled toward the cabin's front door behind Tifa. It didn't take Denzel long to find every electrical outlet in the cabin's living room and have half a dozen things plugged in to them and charging. Tifa began unpacking a grocery bag onto the table that was in the kitchen. She had crammed it into the back hatch of the Fenrir and had barely gotten the hatch closed. Tifa wondered if she had packed too much food judging by the way she just kept piling things up on the table. Of course, there weren't any restaurants out here and there was a small general store just in case.

"it smells weird in here." Denzel commented.

"That's the smell of cedar." Tifa told him.

"What's cedar?" Denzel wondered.

"It's a kind of tree, stupid!" Marlene said. "They don't grow in the city."

"Marlene! You'll see plenty of cedar trees here, Denzel." Tifa said unloading the last of the bag.

"Tifa, we brought a lot of stuff didn't we?" Marlene asked examining the pile they had created.

"Yeah, I suppose we did. Of course, something tells me we'll eat most of it." Tifa said. She started to organize things so they could at least have some space on this table if they wanted to use it. It was now that Tifa realized that her birthday dinner had been left at home in the refrigerator: four steaks that Cloud was going to cook over an open fire outside tonight. Tifa would need to call Yuffie later and tell her to get those out and cook them so they didn't spoil. That was quite a disappointment too because Tifa was really looking forward.

"Okay, that is so much better." Cloud said reappearing.

"Hey guess what we for…" Tifa turned around from her pile of semi-organized groceries. She wasn't ready for what she was looking at. She always knew black on a blond was irresistible but the way Cloud's black shirt hugged and defined every single muscular line of him made her sweat a little. It was just plain sexy, the way the soft edges of it barely touched the top of his black belt. She laughed to herself because when Cloud had picked out those white, gray and black plaid shorts he was wearing now she thought at the time, 'now what the hell will he ever wear with these'? Well, now she knew.

"What were you getting ready to say?" Cloud asked her.

"Oh…that…uh…I was…I was just going to tell you that we left the steaks at home." Tifa said trying her best to hide the fact that she was eye-fucking her own husband. This _was_ her birthday after all, and she could do whatever she wanted to her husband.

"Nooo. We did _not _leave the steaks." Cloud insisted.

"Except that we did leave the steaks." Tifa said again.

"That was supposed to be your birthday dinner. It was supposed to be steaks cooked over an open fire and…somethin' else that I would have picked out from this selection of stuff. So what now? What's your birthday dinner going to be?" Denzel had declared on of the rooms down the hallway as his own; leaving Marlene with what he considered being the 'lame' room. At least each room had a TV in it which was a total relief to him.

"This." Tifa said displaying a large can before Cloud. He examined it for a moment with a sense of curiosity.

"That is a sixty-four ounce can of Spaghetti O's." Cloud said dryly.

"With…sliced franks." Tifa said tapping the label of the can.

"Oh, well now it's a gourmet meal." Cloud said sarcastically. "You know, last year for your birthday we had an amazing meal delivered. "Look, look at this, Tifa. This was the rub for the steaks! A carefully selected blend of ten spices that…" Tifa cut Cloud's steak rant off.

"Move your spice bag out of my face. That's the only thing in the entire world you know how to cook and those steaks are at home so instead you're going to put your microwave skills to the test." Tifa said shoving the can into his hands. He smelled unbelievable and Tifa found herself drunk on him as she inhaled Cloud's scent. "Marlene? Are you taking that stuff to unpack?" Tifa asked.

"Uh huh." Marlene answered.

"Take that bag please, and put it our room will you?" Tifa asked of her.

"Okay." Marlene said picking up the bag Tifa was referring to.

"Look, and for desert…" Tifa displayed a package of cupcakes she had bought earlier that morning at the deli. Cloud couldn't help but laugh at her.

"And where do you plan on working in the two bottles of champagne I see you brought?" Cloud asked her.

"I brought two just in case. We'll start with one and save the other for another night." Tifa said. "Now, I'm going to go take a shower. Put the rest of this stuff away and we'll get dinner ready when I get back." Tifa said getting one last eyeful of Cloud before she disappeared. This was a perfect opportunity for Cloud to pull Tifa's birthday present from its half-smashed spot in the back of Denzel's bike. He had noticed it had gotten slightly mangled…well a lot mangled…as he and Denzel were unpacking. It was apparently successfully smashed during the trip. It didn't matter though, Cloud couldn't wait to see the look on Tifa's face when she unwrapped it…well half unwrapped it.

I just wanted to thank everyone for your kind reviews! I apologize that I haven't gotten around to responding to all of them.


	4. Pink: Not Vincent's Color

"Come on! Let's eat outside." Marlene insisted grabbing the big bowl of Spaghetti O's out of the microwave. The cabin had a spacious front porch that overlooked the Mythrill Lake. There was a hammock situated in the front corner of the porch. She perched the front door open and made her way outside. Cloud handed a bowl over to Denzel.

"Be careful that's a little hot." Cloud said. "Take this outside with you." Cloud said shoving a two-liter into Denzel's free hand. Denzel joined Marlene outside. Tifa shook her wet hair as she appeared with Cloud in the kitchen. The only one in this cabin right now sexier than Cloud…was Tifa.

"We have children you know. You can't send the message that's it's okay to…have breasts!" Cloud said pulling her divine birthday dinner from the microwave. He shook his head. Clearly, he had given up. "My god, you're so hot. Here happy birthday. Please, take your Spaghetti O's and go outside before you create even more of a problem in my pants. Tifa laughed. She was more than delighted with herself.

"Put that champagne in the freezer and get it good and chilled. You and I are going to suck on that after Marlene and Denzel go to bed." Tifa said.

"I know it's your birthday and all but if I have anything to say about it you're gonna suck on a lot more than champagne." Cloud told her. Tifa winked at him before slipping out the door. Oh, how she loved creating sexual tension with him.

"Tifa! Tifa! Here! Happy Birthday!" Denzel couldn't stand it anymore. He shoved a very sad looking package at Tifa.

"Ooh check that out! It's my lucky day. Is there a reason why this is half mooshed?" Tifa asked examining the package only to see one side of it completely torn open.

"Denzel! You weren't supposed to give that to her yet." Cloud said bringing what was left of the Spaghetti O's outside along with Tifa's cupcakes and a handful of whatever silver wear he could pick up. It was a tiny table outside that they would all cram around out here on the porch but it would work.

"We couldn't wait any longer. I told Denzel to give it to her." Marlene said already eating her Spaghetti O's and not waiting on anyone else.

"Happy Birthday. Sorry it's uh…opened on one end." Cloud said sitting his own bowl on the table along with the cupcakes and the silver wear.

"Can I open the rest of it now?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, go ahead." Cloud said giving the mixture in his bowl a stir. Denzel watched Tifa carefully. She opened up the other side of the box and pulled out what was inside. It was a rather thick looking album.

"What is this?" Tifa gasped when she opened up the album. She flipped through the pages a bit. "Oh my god. Where did you…How did…oooh look at this! Oh my god this is…" Tifa felt like an idiot as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She was looking at the photo album that was titled 'Our Family Photos'. It was obvious that Marlene and Denzel had hand made the first page. The back of the first page was even more tear-jerking than the front page. She looked at the kids' precious handwriting: We love you Tifa from Marlene and Denzel. It was obvious that they had taken turns writing that. That wasn't the only message on the page. She read the one written in purple: One year and counting that's why there are plenty of blank pages, love ya – Yuffie. And there was the message in orange: It's been a long road and it's best traveled together–from Cid and Shera. She started to sniff when she read the message in red: To the best momma in the whole damn world – love Barret. She laughed at the message in pink: Marlene gave me a pink marker, pink's not my color. Even still, we're in this together – Vincent. And finally, there was the message in black all by itself on the next page: You're steel bars wrapped around me. I've been your prisoner since the day you found me. I'm still just a fool to believe I'd have anything you need, still can't look in your eyes…you're outta my league. But never forget Tifa, you're steel bars…wrapped around this heart of mine. –Love, Cloud. He had put the date underneath what he wrote.

Tifa looked at Cloud with misty eyes. "We all had a part in this. Yuffie, Barret, Vincent, Marlene and Denzel and me all helped find the pictures we used. Yuffie and these two did all the gluing and taping. I put it all in order and…well here it is.

"Oh, it's just perfect." Tifa said still tearing up as she looked at the pictures of Marlene and Denzel's first day of school from last year and the pictures that were taken in the apartment before it became what it was now. She never thought she would miss all those damn boxes piled up everywhere until right now when she was looking at what their life looked like when those boxes _were_ piled up everywhere. It had been so complicated, yet it all made perfect sense…she and Cloud were just too stupid to have realized it.

"We didn't mean to make you cry Tifa." Marlene said.

"Oh, I'm not sad, honey. Come here. Give me a hug." Tifa said putting her arms around Marlene. There was an excellent picture of Tifa washing dishes while Denzel sat on the bar counter that the chef had taken. She wanted to look at every single page carefully. She noticed every picture was dated, much to her liking.

"Here, you can look at this while you eat. You're O's are going to get cold." Cloud said shoving her bowl toward her.

"Ooh look at you and Denzel on the Fenrir." Tifa commented combing the page carefully. There were at least a couple hundred pictures crammed in here. There was everything: The trip to the beach, Cloud's birthday from last year, Tifa holding up Marlene and Denzel's legal guardianship and adoption papers. There was the Halloween party and pictures from countless day and weekend trips with Yuffie. Denzel's soccer picture and Marlene's group choir picture were among the pages. "Oh my god, it's our wedding pictures!" Tifa said. Yuffie had been holding out and she never had seen all of them, even though it had been seven months ago. As far as Yuffie was concerned, this was a huge part of the album and she had taken a close up of the marriage license just to prove that it happened. In fact, Yuffie had dedicated five pages to the Lockhart-Strife 'wedding'. Tifa was completely absorbed in this amazing birthday gift as she ate.

"Is there anymore left?" Denzel asked.

"Yeah, here." Cloud said shoving the biggest bowl toward him.

"I'm sorry we aren't eating steaks over an open campfire." Cloud said. She leaned over and kissed Cloud's neck.

"It's the best birthday dinner ever." She said sincerely. Tifa laughed to herself because there were so many pictures of someone with a drink in their hand. It made Tifa, Cloud and their crew out to look like alcoholics. Thank god everyone was at least dressed in all these pictures. "I love this one." Tifa said pointing to a sheetrock dust-coated Cid and Marlene. "Oooh and look at Denzel helping Yuffie with those stupid glazed pecans."

"Give me one of those." Marlene said pointing to one of the cupcakes. "They have sprinkles on them. They're always better with sprinkles."

"You can't even taste sprinkles." Denzel said.

"So, they're still better." Marlene insisted. "These are yummy."

"Give me one of those too." Tifa said shoving the last spoonful of Spaghetti O's in her mouth.

"God, Tifa, get fat why don't you?" Cloud told her. "Get fat and be completely undesirable to me." Cloud laughed at his own comment because even he knew he couldn't say that with a straight face.

"You are so stupid sometimes." Tifa said shaking her head and taking the delicious looking cupcake from Marlene. Marlene looked into the album at a picture Yuffie had taken of Cloud and Tifa standing on the steps of the Midgar City Municipal Courthouse.

"Cloud, are you going to dance with me at my wedding?" she asked. Cloud looked at her as the color faded from his face a little. He didn't want to hear her ask such a question. It was simply too scary to hear.

"You know, I didn't dance my own." Cloud told her.

"But what about mine?" Marlene asked again. Cloud shook his head, feeling more than uncomfortable with this question.

"You're not allowed to get married." Was his answer.

"Aunt Yuffie says what you and Tifa had was a three ring freak show not a wedding." Denzel said.

"Okay first, Denzel, don't repeat what Yuffie says. Secondly, it _was_ a wedding.

"If I don't have a big wedding Denzel, I can get my husband to buy me a big diamond like Tifa's." Marlene said. "See? That's what they did." Cloud planted his head into the palm of his hand.

"Oh my god…Marlene…what have I created." He mumbled. Marlene gasped with wide eyes. It was apparent by the look on her face she had thought of something.

"I have an even better idea! Cloud, you'll pay for my wedding _and_ I can get a diamond like Tifa's!" Tifa laughed at her. Cloud shook his head and sighed.

"Oh Marlene…I swear." Tifa commented as she continued to comb the pages carefully. "Aww, look at Cid and Shera. That's the only woman in the world who could truly love Cid." Tifa said.

"I can almost guess what Cid is saying in his mind. And you're right." Cloud said shoving the last of the cupcakes toward Marlene and Denzel.

"Well, thanks you guys…for such a wonderful birthday present. You three put a lot of work in to this." Tifa said.

"Happy Birthday, Tifa. We had a lot of fun making it." Denzel got up from the small table and put his arms around Tifa's shoulders.

"Thank you, honey." She told him.

"I'm going to get my game." Denzel said getting ready to scurry off in to the cabin to retrieve his handheld game that was still plugged in to the wall charging.

"Hey, hey…take your bowl in with you and put it in the sink." Cloud stopped him before he managed to disappear though the door.

"Is there any way I can talk you in to cleaning up?" Tifa asked of Cloud.

"Marlene, are you finished?" she shook her head as she shoved an icing covered finger in her mouth. "Good, take these bowls inside with you." Cloud said sending Marlene into the cabin.

"There, I cleaned up. Nah, nah, I'm just playin'. Yeah, I'll go get everything soaking and I'll return with your champagne. Tifa smiled.

"And while you do that, I'm going to take my album and go lay in that hammock." Tifa announced. Even though she was nearly through the entirely of the album, she would start at the beginning again and look at every page once more. The evening May air fluttered freely over the surface of the Mythrill Lake causing the water to ripple. The sounds of the countryside were peaceful as the evening sun started to become weaker. Frogs chirped in the distance, and the occasional splashing of fish near the banks serenaded the landscape. The herons crooned and the crickets sang…sounds that were never heard in Midgar. The sounds of the world made Tifa reminisce to that night…the night under the _Highwind_. She remembered how she and Cloud laid there and how he unloaded the weight of the world on her. That night, the hum of the _Highwind's_ idling standby blades and the sounds of the crickets were the only sounds to be heard. She remembered laying there in the grass with Cloud, staring up at the stars…it was the first time Tifa had realized how in love with Cloud she was and how she would never give up on him no matter what. Denzel came back outside with his game and sat down on the opposite end of the long porch. "It's really quiet out here, Tifa." Denzel said.

"I know, it's not like the city, is it?" she asked.

"Nope. I think I kinda' like it." Denzel said. Marlene appeared shortly after Denzel.

"Tifa, are we going to see the chocobos tomorrow?" Marlene asked laying down on the cushion-covered bench that was situated toward the front of the long porch.

"We certainly are." Tifa answered her as she.

"Are they really big?" Marlene asked flipping open one of Tifa's magazines.

"They are." She answered Marlene again.

"Like how big?" Marlene pressed onward.

"You'll find out tomorrow. It's better to just see them in real life." Tifa promised her. After a lot of clanging around Cloud returned with a bottle of chilled champagne and two flutes in hand.

"Hey! I was reading that!" Marlene insisted as Cloud snatched the magazine from her.

"You don't read Tifa's trash." He said walking toward Tifa and throwing her magazine to the floorboards below.

"It's not trash!" Tifa insisted, still having her eyes glued to her album.

"The front cover say five ways to please your man tonight…and I bet none of them even work!" Cloud argued her. She reached up and grabbed the bottle of champagne from his hand.

"Marlene, hand me that magazine." Tifa said pointing beneath her. Marlene rolled off the cushioned bench and did as Tifa told her. Tifa shoved the bottle of champagne under her arm and flipped through the pages. She ripped a handful of pages out and crumpled them into a ball, throwing the wad at Cloud. "There, honey. You can read it." She handed the magazine back to Marlene.

"What the…it still says…seven no-fail hot looks for summer!" Cloud said watching Tifa unscrew the already loosened cork on the champagne bottle. Tifa took a long swig straight from the bottle.

"I know…wait until you see one of them." Tifa said wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Cloud shook his head.

"You…are a terrible role model right now!" Cloud scolded her. "And I have glasses right here."

"We don't need glasses. Here, lay down with me." Tifa said clumsily shifting herself over in the hammock. She carefully reached over the side of the rope netting and laid the album below her.

"If I even attempt to get in that thing with you…" Cloud didn't finish his sentence. Tifa reached and out grabbed the top of Cloud's pants, pulling him closer to her. "Yeah, okay…I guess we wont' flip this thing." Cloud said carefully trying to figure out in his mind how he was going to do this without either flipping Tifa out of this hammock or breaking himself in the process. It was the beginning of a beautiful evening the Mythrill countryside.


	5. Love Bitten

The sun had disappeared behind the Mythrill mountain range. The light from the pale crescent moon danced on the rippling surface of the Mythrill Lake. Marlene and Denzel had gone inside the cabin nearly an hour earlier...thank goodness…

"Do you think chocobo Billy is…well…still his same old self?" Cloud asked.

"I'd say he is. He's one of a kind." Tifa said.

"That's not exactly a compliment is it?" Cloud questioned further. Tifa laughed stupidly.

"No, it's not." She answered. "Ow…ow…ow, don't squeeze that spot on me." Tifa said as she laid there on her side. She could feel Cloud squeezing her side just above her hip.

"Does that still hurt?" he asked rubbing the spot.

"Yes it does. When we get back home I need to call the doctor to have it looked at." Tifa said.

"No you don't. He'll say fuck your husband more. He'll be like…he'll be all…go home, seduce your husband, and have a good time." Cloud said pulling Tifa toward him. She laughed again.

"Oh my god, you do realize that seducing my husband is exactly the reason why that spot hurts as much as it does?" Tifa asked being a little too protective of the nearly empty bottle of champagne. "God, you're drunk…you are so drunk."

"I'm not drunk. I just think fucking your husband would solve all your problems." Cloud said trying to wiggle his arms around her. Tifa squirmed and fought him.

"Shut up. You're drunk and you're probably too tired to sleep with me anyway." Tifa was still trying to squirm away from him as she tipped the bottle to her lips.

"Oh, ha ha, Tifa. You're so…you're so funny…yeah you're….you're just freakin' hilarious. You'd rather fuck that bottle right now by the looks of the way you're shoving it down your throat. You certainly haven't sucked on anything I have like that." He finally managed to get his arms around her

"Awwww, poor Cloud. He's never had a decent blow job in his life." Tifa said sarcastically as she wiggled around facing him, pushing her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, never from you." He said trying his best to pinch her but Tifa just swatted at him before taking another long swig of champagne. She just continued laughing at him. "You are so drunk. God, you're…look at you. Our kids are going to get taken away from us because their mother is laying around drunk. You're such a positive influence, Tifa."

"Shut up! I'm not _that_ drunk! I get easy when I'm drunk, you know that!" Tifa said through her laughter.

"That's how I like my women…drunk and easy." Cloud said grabbing her and kissing her neck. He let his hands assault her, letting his palms caress her every curve. His lips were hungry and full of lust for her. Tifa moaned as she felt him fondle her.

"Mmm…mmmm….mmm…as much as I want you to take my clothes off you can't just…try to take them off! No! No! Leave my top…Cloud Strife I have no bra under here! You are gonna leave my top…okay, yeah let's go with that." Tifa said now that she was laying there half-topless with a cold bottle of champagne against her bare skin. "You better hope our children don't come out here needing something."

"They've been inside for nearly two hours now. Give me that champagne." Cloud

said reaching across Tifa's bare stomach.

"I know, but you know how they…" Tifa squealed and jerked as Cloud poured a tiny trickle of champagne over her breasts.

"Well, hell NOW they'll come out here if you're going to scream like that." Cloud said licking the clear liquid off her skin. She liked the feeling of his warm tongue on her nipple. She reached up and pulled Cloud's ear into her lips. Her words left Cloud in a state of burning want. "Hey…hey now…if you're gonna talk like that, nasty girl…you're gonna do it with your wet panties pulled down." Cloud kissed her again and pulled her shirt back over her shoulders; sliding her slim straps back in to place once more. "Just so you know…it's going to be just as exciting to take that off of you aga…" Cloud couldn't finish his sentence because Tifa had pulled his lips into hers once more. She put her arms around him and pulled his body tightly into hers.

"Um…how are we gonna get out of this hammock?" Tifa asked laughing.

"Come on…" Cloud rolled her out of the hammock in one quick motion. It could have ended with Tifa planting into the floor. Fortunately, Cloud and his poor judgment seemed to have this under control. Tifa clumsily grabbed for the champagne bottle as Cloud pulled on her to get her inside the cabin. He kissed her again…heatedly as she stumbled through the door. She was a little dizzy, after all she and Cloud had been laying there drinking for nearly two and a half hours. His kiss caught her off-guard and she gasped in pleasure.

"Mmmm…I should go check on the kids really quickly." Tifa said trying to break free of Cloud's grasp on her.

"No, no you should'nt. They're fine. You need to check on _this_." Cloud said grabbing Tifa's hand and shoving it between his legs. Well, so much for responsible parenting. Of course, the kids probably truly didn't _need _to be _checked _on; it was more reassurance for Tifa's sake. She had her hand full, the last thing she needed was to check on her children. Tifa pushed Cloud backwards carefully, letting her body fall in to him slightly. "Close that door." Cloud said rather heavily as Tifa reached behind her to hunt for the doorknob in the darkness of the cabin. She fumbled around for the dresser and sat the champagne bottle down. Tifa sighed as Cloud grabbed her shoulders firmly and shoved her backwards on to the bed behind her. She animalistically worked her body backwards as Cloud hovered over her. His breath hit her face in forceful heaves. Tifa put her arms over her head and let Cloud pull her shirt off completely this time. She raked her fingernails up his sides, pulling his fitted shirt up as far as she could before forcing Cloud to strip it the rest of the way. Tifa moaned again at the feeling of him pushing against her. She wrapped her arms around him as Cloud shed his shirt to the floor. She wanted him so badly…her body was even more on fire for him tonight than it normally was.

"You have to be quiet." Cloud said kissing her hard.

"Do you have any idea what a challenge that will be?" Tifa replied breathlessly as she shoved on Cloud, forcing him underneath her. His next words to her were laced with pure filth. It made Tifa burn hard between her thighs.

"Cloud…" Tifa muttered in her heated desperation. She was completely naked in the next instance. "Touch me…touch me everywhere…touch…" Cloud cut Tifa's words off as he traded her places again. She could hear his shorts hit the floor.

"No, no, no…tell me what you _really_ want me to do to you. Tell me in words that's really gonna wanna make me…" Cloud whispered the last part of his sentence and it sent chills all through Tifa's body. She did as Cloud asked of her and told him exactly what she wanted to feel…in vivid detail. She held on to him as her body rocked against his. "Your gonna have to spread your horny legs wider than that 'cause it's gonna get rough." Cloud promised her, shoving her knees farther apart. Tifa smiled as she laughed sweetly, but Cloud couldn't see her angelic expression amidst the darkness. "Hey…I love you…you're sexy as hell…you better hold on tight." Tifa gasped as she felt her body consumed. She loved to hate the way Cloud could seduce her to a puddle one minute and then tell her he loved her the next.

Tifa felt Cloud's body sink in to her, becoming one with her rhythm. She could feel his primal, heated breaths in her face. She wrapped her arms around his strong back as she pushed his head to her shoulder. He loved hearing her muted whimpers. Clearly she wanted to cry out for him but that was anything but an option. She wasn't ready for the intensity that she suddenly felt. Her actions caused Cloud to moan out louder than he had anticipated. He quickly pulled his face away from Tifa's shoulder and looked at her rather surprisingly.

"Did…did you just bite my shoulder?" he asked.

"Yeah…yeah I'm sorry it just…I…" Cloud cut her off by shoving in to her harder.

"Sssshhh…do it again…but bite harder." He commanded her.

"Do something to make me bite you harder." Tifa had barely gotten the words out when she felt his unbelievable force, causing her to sink her teeth into his shoulder hard. Cloud wasn't sure which was more exciting, the way she bit him or the way she wanted him so horribly. She whined in pleasure through her clenched teeth as she tried her best let her body relax into Cloud's heavy pace. She begged and begged for him and there wasn't any hot-blooded man alive that wouldn't respond to a woman who was as pleaful as Tifa. Her fingertips pulsated in to the sides of his ribcage as she repositioned her hands. She cried out again as she bit down on Cloud's shoulder hard. Cloud sighed deeply, quite obviously suppressing something that could have (and should have) been louder. Tifa panted as she tilted her head back as far as she could.

She wasn't ready for Cloud's next move, which was both aggressive and completely unpredictable. He pulled away from her and smashed Tifa into the pillows beneath her face first. She nearly screamed when he accidentally got her hair wound around his eager hand.

"Now it's your turn." He whispered to her as he adjusted her hips and left tender marks all over her neck. Tifa sighed hard into the pillow, her voice muffled. Cloud pushed into her again with much force. Tifa could feel Cloud work a free hand around her waist. The feeling of his hand moving lower down her abdomen and partially between her legs was enough to send her over the edge but she had to hold back the feeling of climax for a little longer. She knew the longer she could control it, the more intense the feeling would be…for both of them. She wailed into the pillow beneath her in pleasure as she felt Cloud's bite on her becoming firmer. She loved the way he tangled his fingers in her hair and the way his body forced hers nearly flat into the sheets below her. Quite possibly the most arousing part was the way wailed into the pillow. The harder Cloud pounded his hips in to her, the louder she got. Cloud could sense his own increasing level of pure pleasure. It was only a matter of time now, and neither of them had much time left. Cloud pulled on her hips, allowing the weight of her body to rest in his hands. Tifa gave Cloud one last warning. She couldn't hold anything back any longer. Cloud buried his mouth in to her shoulder as Tifa let out an intensely wild scream. It was a combination of the thrill of Cloud's teeth in her shoulder and the feeling surging through her body. He squeezed her hips hard and moaned rather desperately through clenched teeth. Her shoulder couldn't have been in a better place. Tifa had nearly smothered herself in the pillow underneath her. Her chest heaved up and down as she fought her racing pulse. She could feel Cloud's heart pounding against her back. Slowly, what was left of a hot mess leaked down Tifa's thigh. Cloud clung to her, fearing she may try to do something stupid…like move. Quite obviously, she was going no where especially with Cloud's dead weight on her. Normally, she would complain a thousand times over about him laying on her like this. In fact, if she had one gil for every morning that she woke up and shoved him off of her saying something to the effect of 'move' or 'god, get off me' or her favorite thing to utter half-asleep before 6:00 in the morning 'god Cloud, you're so heavy to be so small' she could quit bartending. Cloud had promised Tifa a thousand times over that if he ever…_ever_ hit 5 foot 10 inches he was going to make her pay. She knew she had absolutely nothing to worry about…he hadn't grown a single inch since he was sixteen and right now especially, she could have said anything she wanted and gotten by with it. She was entirely too contented therefore it was much easier to let Cloud be dead weight on her.

They laid there in near silence the sounds of Mythrill being faintly heard outside the bedroom window. "Cloud…" Tifa finally said.

"Yeah?" he answered moving beside her.

"We never called Yuffie to tell her to get the steaks out of the fridge." Tifa mumbled with her face half mashed into the pillow.

"Huh? We were supposed to do that? I'll admit…I was too interested in…being in you…to remember that. Let's just call her now." Cloud said thinking this was the most logical of reasons.

"Noooo….I'm not moving from this spot." Tifa said knowing good and well she would be asleep in no time.

"Yes you are. Watch…" Cloud shoved on her, pushing her over toward the side of the bed.

"You're so good when you're in me…yet you're so annoying right now." Tifa mumbled again. Cloud could tell that her heart was anywhere but in that statement.


	6. Parenting 101

"Hey. Did I wake you? Okay, good. Listen, me and Cloud were going to call you last night but I'll be quite honest we were more interested in champagne and sex. There are four very nice steaks in our refrigerator. You and your boyfriend need to go over there to the apartment and get them and fix them. I bought them yesterday morning so they have to be fixed today." Tifa explained to Yuffie as she laid there. "Well, they were supposed to be my birthday dinner last night. Yes, yes I loved the photo album. What! Yuffie! What kind of question is…oh who am I kidding yes I loved the sex. I know honey, it's one of the few things Cloud is really, really good at. You're right. He can't coach any of Denzel's teams, wouldn't dare go to a PTA meeting, can't stick to a grocery list to save his life, but my god can he fuck his wife." Tifa said. Yuffie laughed on the other end of the phone. Cloud just shook his head and rolled over on Tifa. He reached up and grabbed the phone from Tifa even though Yuffie was in mid sentence.

"I can too follow a grocery list! I just…you know…get extra things not on the list. So see? I can shop, I can fuck my wife and I'll probably win father of the year this year...last year Cid beat me in the talent competition." Cloud interrupted her sentence. Naturally, that sent Yuffie into a near yelling frenzy. "Yu…Yuffie…Yuffie stop yelling. You have steaks to get out of our fridge. Please don't let those go to waste. I know it's not even ten o'clock but we had to call you now." Cloud told her rubbing his hand up and down Tifa's stomach. "What are we doing today? We're taking the kids to the chocobo farm in about an hour and a half. Oh shut up! I do too remember how to ride! We're just going to feed them and stuff though. Because! It makes me nervous at the thought of Denzel or Marlene riding one. Yes, I let Denzel ride a motorcycle but I'm on it WITH him!" Cloud argued with Yuffie. Tifa was squirming as much as she could to reach the night stand beside their bed. She was going to make the stupid choice of applying her lotion while trying to deal with Cloud mostly on top of her.

"Okay, we just wanted to call you and tell you about the steaks. Tifa is about to coat me in some kind of berry-ish, vanilla-ish…crap so I'm going to hang up. We'll see you soon. Don't forget to lock our front door back when you leave…oh and put our mail on the table." Cloud instructed her before hanging up the phone. He looked at Tifa. "You're going to make me smell like a girl."

"Well, get up and get dressed and you can maintain your masculinity." Tifa insisted.

"I'm wearing this." Cloud mumbled into her stomach.

"I'm so sure you're going to wear boxers and nothing else to the chocobo farm." She said sarcastically. "We have to get moving." Tifa shoved Cloud off of her.

"You're so mean to me in the mornings. You're always pushing me off of you." He said.

"No wonder, you're always on me! That's why I'm always pushing you off." Tifa said still smearing blobs all over her skin.

"No I'm not!" Cloud said reluctantly getting up.

"Please, easily five out of seven mornings you are on me in one way or another." Tifa said. "Hey, get me something to wear out of our bag after you get dressed."

"You ever wonder who's on top when it's Barret and…well, whoever it is he may or may not be sleeping with?" Cloud asked as he pulled things out of the bag.

"What?" Tifa questioned wondering where the hell that question came from.

"Yeah, I mean…Barret is a huge guy…let's face it, Tifa. I'm not. I'm easy to be under but Barret…if I were a woman I would never want to be under him." Cloud said, completely convinced that this made perfect sense. Tifa shook her head.

"Strangely enough, I see exactly where you're coming from with this and I can't imagine any woman feeling safe underneath Barret."

"Here." Cloud threw some clothes toward Tifa.

"No, I don't want to wear white to the farm. Give me…give me that gray shirt." Tifa said throwing it back at him. Cloud threw the shirt she wanted at her. "I can't wear these shorts in public! Do you realize how short they are? Do you want people to think I'm a mom that does porn on the side?" Tifa said throwing her shorts back at him. "Throw me the capris."

"No, wear these shorts. You legs are seven miles long and you look amazing in them. It's okay if people think you do porn on the side. Besides…you might have to someday when we can't afford to put Marlene through medical school." Cloud said sarcastically throwing them back at her. Tifa sighed.

"Fine, in that case…see look, now I have to get up and change this underwear out. I can't wear these with those short shorts. I have to go less." Tifa insisted.

"Now that…is what I'm talkin' about. You change those out to anything you have that is less. Cloud said. "Where are my sunglasses?"

"Oh…uuuhhhh…they are in that bag thing in the bathroom." Tifa said.

"Why are they in there! Do you remember how much those things cost?" Cloud said rather excitedly.

"No, Cloud I just remember the drama of spending forty-five minutes on the phone with customer service because they were special order." Tifa said recalling the whole ordeal.

"I know, I know it was a pain but you have to admit how amazing I look in them." Cloud said.

"Riiiiiight." Tifa said searching the floor for her bra. "They were not worth the price tag on them, Cloud. They've been replaced three times."

"Yeah but…I'm cool, Tifa. That's all you've ever wanted in life….is for your husband to be cool. I'll go see if the kids are up and make them something to eat." Cloud told her.

"Okay, I'll get the cooler together when I get out there. Oh and Cloud? The only thing I've wanted in life since we had kids was to sleep in without having to fix lunches, find backpacks, or clean something. Your cool factor has been the least of my concerns." Tifa promised laughing at him.

"Hey….come here." Cloud said walking over toward the edge of their bed.

"What?" Tifa said flopping over on her stomach and pulling herself toward the edge. Cloud looked at her for a moment before kissing her. It was one of those kisses that appeared long overdo but in fact it was not.

"You certainly know how to distract me in the morning." She said.

"Oooh Tifa if you think that's a distraction…you haven't seen _anything_." Cloud winked at her.

"Yeah well…distract me tonight at around eleven o' clock when I don't have fifty things to get ready." She said.

"I will thanks." Cloud said leaving the room. The kitchen and living room positively looked like a bomb had exploded somehow between arriving the previous day and this morning. Cloud didn't question the insane and out of control mess although part of him wondered if somehow he and Tifa had made it after having entirely too much champagne. He knew it was a distinct possibility. "Hey Tifa! Did you and I come in here drunk and half naaaake…..Denzel…you're here." Cloud said rather surprised at Denzel's appearance. Way to go Cloud.

"When were you and Tifa drunk?" innocent Denzel asked.

"Never, we've never been drunk. We've never had too much to drink in our lives! We're responsible, wholesome people who don't drink too much!" Cloud said rather unconvincingly.

"Cloud, I'm twelve…Aunt Yuffie says she's seen you and Tifa drunk. I know what drunk is. She also says that Tifa is loose and easy when she drinks too much. What is that anyway… loose and easy?" he asked. This was entirely too much information for Cloud to process in that blond brain of his before 9:00 AM.

"It's what your Aunt Yuffie is. She opened this can of worms and she's going to fix it so ask her all about that sometime. Here….here's your breakfast." Cloud said handing over a bag of gummi bears to Denzel.

"Cloud…these are gummi bears and Tifa will kill us both if this is breakfast." Denzel said sitting down at the table with the bag. Cloud laughed.

"Believe me Denzel…she may yell at you…but she won't do anything to me." Just then Cloud spun around. "Oh….hi…you're supposed to be in the bedroom getting things together but instead you're standing behind me glaring. Those were…you know…just a joke. He's not _really_ gonna eat those for breakfast. You hate me don't you?" Cloud asked Tifa feeling utterly defeated.

"No Cloud…you just cease to amaze me. Denzel, do you want some toast? Tifa asked.

"Yeah, that's way better than gummi bears!" Denzel said. Marlene appeared from her room yawning.

"Morning sleepy." Tifa said as Marlene walked over to her.

"Do we have any headache medicine?" she asked leaning her head over on Tifa.

"Did you wake up with a headache?" Cloud asked her.

"Yeah, I guess so." She said.

"There's a bottle in our bathroom. Look in the black pouch. Take two and then come eat something with it." Cloud told her. Marlene shook her head and disappeared. Tifa too noticed the mess all around them this morning. As she waited on Denzel's toast she looked around.

"Did…you and I do this last night?" she asked Cloud.

"I was kind of going to ask you that. I don't think we did but I also can't tell you why there is this much crap everywhere…or why we brought this much crap." Cloud said. "I am…exhausted this morning. Let's just go to the farm after noon today."

"No, we told Chocobo Billy we'd be there at ten or whatever." Tifa said.

"How do you possibly have the energy you do this morning! You should be entirely worn out." He said.

"I don't honey, I'm faking it…that's the _only _thing I've faked in the past twelve hours. Denzel, here's your toast." Tifa said winking at Cloud. Lesson learned: Don't drink champagne until you're shit-faced, insanely fuck you husband half the night and wake up in one piece expecting to be the mom that has it all together.

"Is his name really Chocobo Billy?" Denzel asked.

"We don't know for sure. You'll have to ask your uncle Cid that. We've always called him Chocobo Billy. For all I know his name could be something completely different." Cloud explained. "When you're finished with your breakfast come help me pack up a few things that we need for the day." Finally, Marlene returned ready for her breakfast.

"Do we get to feed the chocobos today? Marlene asked. "Ooooh gummi bears!"

"Of course you can." Tifa promised her. "Hurry up and eat. We have to get moving. Marlene Wallace don't you even think about eating gummi bears for breakfast with your toast.

"Aww…why not?" she asked rather disappointedly.

"Because sweetie…your father's a moron for even sitting those out." Tifa said picking up the bag and throwing it into a large plastic bag so they could have them for later. Cloud shook his head at Tifa.

"One of these days you're going to wake up and…and there won't be any breakfast ready and waiting for you." He said pointing at Tifa. She walked over to him as Marlene and Denzel ate.

"Cloud, that is every single day of my life." She said wrapping her arms around him. It wasn't common that Tifa kissed him in front of the kids, but when she did it was magic and frankly, Marlene and Denzel loved seeing it.

"Is he a good kisser?" Marlene just HAD to ask. Tifa still had her arms wrapped around him.

"The best." Cloud answered quickly.

"Hey! I wasn't asking you!" Marlene said.

"So?" Cloud asked her. Marlene sighed as she nearly spilled orange juice all over the kitchen table.

"You irritate me." She said rolling her eyes.

"Eat your breakfast. We have to go soon." Cloud said taking Tifa's hands in his.

My apologies for the super slow update and the short chapter. I've had lots and lots and lots going on lately and have been on the road traveling as well. I'm back now and plan to get the next chapter uploaded much sooner. Thanks everybody!


	7. Born Country

The countryside brought back memories. Aerith had always so fascinated by it's vastness and the patches of wildflowers that grew everywhere were even more so a remnant of her memory. Both Fenrir and Denzel's bike were a dusty mess upon arrival at the chocobo farm. The smell of feathers and greens filled the air as the four of them walked along the old fence toward the open barn doors. The farm looked almost the same as it had so many years ago and seeing the grazing chocobo's flooded Cloud's mind a million times over.

"Whoa! Those are some huge birds!" Denzel said walking over to the old fence to get a better view of the brilliant yellow and green-grazing adults. Neither Cloud or Tifa said anything, they were a bit caught up in this moment of being in a place that had been safely tucked away into their memories. They were such gentle creatures, the way they would coo and warble as they grazed. Denzel gasped. "That one's looking at us!" The green chocobo gave out a full-bodied 'wark' and slowly moved about on its massive talons. Marlene laughed.

"It sounds funny!" she said. Cloud snapped out of his dream-like state first.

"Come on. Let's go see Billy. You want to get up close to one don't you?" he asked her.

"I sure do!" Marlene said. Tifa came back to earth and the four of them headed toward the barn.

"Billy! Billy, you around?" Tifa called to him. "Billy! It's Cloud and Tifa Strife! You remember we were coming?" she called again as they approached the barn. There was a clambering behind a closed door when a dirty figure appeared with his hands full of Gyshal greens. Billy appeared to be in his mid thirties.

"Well, I'll be danged. Cloud Strife! Nearly forgot ya'll was comin'. Sorry to keep ya' waitin'. Been washin' greens. It's been a while! How ya'll been!" the one and only, never to be replaced Chocobo Billy greeted them. Tifa smiled.

"Hi Billy. It HAS been a while. We're wonderful. We're uh….we got married this fall and uh…these are our kids. Marlene, she's 13 and Denzel, he's 12." Tifa introduced them.

"Hi." Marlene said politely.

"Nice to meet you!" Denzel said shoving a hand toward Billy even though Billy's hands were full. Billy had a strange look on his face as he studied Marlene and Denzel.

"Now uh…I ain't no politician…but Cloud Strife…how the hell you got kids this old?" Billy said rather bluntly. Marlene and Denzel laughed.

"We're adopted!" Denzel said. Marlene was still laughing.

"Has nothing to do with politics." Tifa whispered to Cloud.

"No, not whatsoever." Cloud agreed.

"Adopted huh? Well, I'll be. Tifa? You can't have no kids?" Chocobo Billy asked.

"No, no it's not…" Marlene interrupted Tifa.

"She can have babies, she just doesn't want any because she has us! And Cloud says we're hassle free because babies cry all the time. So see? They don't want to have a baby." Marlene said giving a plenty detailed answer.

"Huh…ya'll must have a crazy way a' life in that city. Well come on! You're here and I'm gettin' ready to feed the little chicks. Man, are they cute! Ya'll wanna see 'em?" Billy asked with shining eyes. It was more than obvious that the only thing this young man revolved around….were chocobos.

"I WANT TO SEE THEM! I WANT TO SEE THE CHICKS!" Marlene said practically yelling.

"Can we hold one!" Denzel asked excitedly.

"Hold one!" Billy laughed at Denzel. "Cloud Strife! What kinda' boy you raisin'? Son, them chicks is so big they barely fit on ya' lap. City folk…." Billy shook his head. "Come on follow me!" Marlene looked to Cloud for reassurance.

"Go ahead." He motioned Denzel and Marlene forward. Billy led them toward the back of the barn.

"Billy, why are your stables empty?" Tifa asked as they carefully stepped among the dirt and hay.

"I got 'em out grazin' and roamin' in the back. Hey…ya'll remember that golden ya' bred years ago? You should see 'er now! She's a beaut'. Don't worry, I'll show 'er to ya. Allllright, here's the chicks! Hey little buddies. Time to eat!" Billy said opening a stall door. Marlene squealed in delight.

It was terribly hard to resist the sight of five little chocobos all fuzzed out with their 'baby' feathers. Two yellow, two blue and a green. "Now ya'll hold on! I ain't gon' starve ya!" Billy said to the five chirping birds. "Here son, you take these greens and sweetheart you take these. Just hold 'em out and watch them little beaks go. They won't hurt ya!" Billy said shoving a wad of wet and slightly gritty greens into Marlene and Denzel's hands.

"Give me your phone. I simply must get pictures of this. Tifa said turning toward Cloud.

"He hasn't changed a bit." Cloud whispered to her digging in his pocket.

"No, he hasn't." Tifa said just as quietly.

"Where's the mom?" Denzel asked.

"Aww, son has Cloud Strife taught you nothin'? These chicks each got a different momma. Chocobos lay one egg. When the momma lays the egg, the sire sits on it till it hatches then the momma takes over again. Once the egg hatches the momma takes care of 'em for about two weeks then they on their own." Billy explained.

"Aww they're so cute!" Marlene said laughing at the hungry birds. Billy smiled.

"You watch! After they eat, they'll all go in that back corner and pile on top of each other. Then they fall asleep. Now, drop ya' green when you get to the stalk. Ya'll can pet 'em when they round up in that corner. They like that kinda' thing. Come on Tifa, get in here and pet these birds with your kids!" Billy demanded of her. "Cloud Strife, I imagine you're too much of a man to pet one or I'd ask you to do the same." Billy said. Cloud wondered two things right now: One, why did Billy address Cloud by first and last name? And two: Why did he think Cloud was too cool to pet a baby bird?

"Aww, come feel how soft they are Marlene." Tifa said already petting a yellow chocobo that had curled up in the corner. It warbled in peace the longer she petted it.

"Damn! Tifa…now I don't nothin' 'bout fashion…but that's a might glittery ring on your finger." Billy said in awe of the near five karat diamond on her hand.

"That's her engagement ring, Billy! Cloud had to get her a really big diamond to prove how much he really loved her. My Aunt Yuffie says it's five full karats of 'I'm sorry's, I love you's." Marlene said.

"Oooh Marlene Eleanor Wallace…damn you Yuffie…" Cloud mumbled.

"Yeah! And our Uncle Cid says…" Cloud cut Denzel off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa….we don't repeat _anything _our Uncle Cid says about Cloud and Tifa." It's hard telling what Denzel may have repeated. Cloud: Interception, point one.

"Cid? That Cid Highwind you talkin' bout? The same Cid Highwind that can make a sailor out to be a church mouse?" Billy asked.

"That's the one…" Cloud said rather absently.

"How's that Cid doin' anyway? Still swearin' nonstop?" Billy asked.

"It's a full time job to keep up with Cid. He's getting married this October." Cloud explained.

"He's marrying the woman that aunt Yuffie says should have left his sorry ass fifty times before!" Danzel said petting the green chocobo to sleep. "It's okay though because Cid really loves her and can't live without her. I believe in that kind of stuff, ya know?" Cloud shook his head as Tifa was a bit shocked that Denzel repeated what Yuffie had said.

"Oooh aunt Yuffie you are going dooooown…." Cloud mumbled mostly to himself. The chocobo chicks were getting all nestled up on top of one another just as Billy had said.

"So….Strife's…ya'll gonna ride today?"

"Well, maybe Tifa and I but not…" Tifa cut Cloud off.

"Yes Billy, we are." Tifa said completely contradicting Cloud in front of Marlene and Denzel. Rule Number one: never…_ever _contradict your spouse in front of your kids…it will only come back to bite you in the ass later.

"What the…no we're…they can't….yeah, whatever…" Cloud said giving in to Tifa even though he thought it a horrible idea to stick the kids on one of these birds.

"Well, alright! Let's let these little fellas snuggle up and I'll take ya to the back stables!" Billy said climbing out of the chick stable. Denzel dusted his hands off and followed Billy, followed by Marlene and Tifa. Both the kids followed Billy to the back of the barn, getting one last look at the precious cuddly birds. Cloud on the other hand, gave Tifa the look of shame.

"What? Let them ride. They'll be so disappointed if you don't." Tifa whispered.

"If we end up with a 12,000 gil hospital bill this is entirely your fault." Cloud reminded her.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take, now come on." Tifa said following the kids. Billy flung the back doors open to reveal another fenced in stable similar to the one in front of the barn.

"Wow! There's a whole bunch of them!" Denzel said hurrying over to the fence. The sight was truly spectacular, rolling grasses as far as the eye could see and grazing chocobos of all sizes. There had to be at least two-dozen of them. Marlene hurried over beside Denzel.

"Unbelievable." Cloud mumbled in awe of the beauty before them. "Tifa, take a picture of that." He said smacking her barely-there shorts. She squealed unexpectedly but agreed that this indeed deserved a picture. The only thing more stoic than the sight of a black chocobo was the sight of three of them roaming freely in a near sprint. Rare, beautiful and without flaw, they dotted the landscape like onyx gems. It sent chills through Tifa as her memory was flooded with visions of the Gold Saucer and tracking these birds across the country side only to bring them back to Billy. She thought of the stable on Cid's old airship...and what had nearly happened between she and Cloud in that stable. Thank god Vincent walked in otherwise she and Cloud may have had a seven-year-old blonde of their own right now. Seven years. It was hard to believe that much time had past. Tifa laughed to herself remembering how Nanaki would sniff the chocobos and watch them as if he were to pounce on one of them.

"Aerith would have loved them." She said dreamily to Cloud expecting him to know exactly what she meant.

"She would have loved them so much." Cloud said throwing an arm around Tifa's shoulders.

"They're so big!" Marlene said just as in awe of them.

"Now, some of 'em are strictly for racin' and some are for breedin'. That gold one you see is one of my best breedin' females. The gold one with the tape wrapped around it's feet is one hell of a racer. Now that black one with the tape on it's feet makes for a fine stud 'cept he's pretty aggressive. I gotta keep his talons clipped 'cause he killed another male 'bout six months ago. See over there? That's my youngest gold female. She's two." Billy explained. He wasn't articulate, he wasn't all that street smart but one thing was certain: Billy loved his birds dearly and his loyalty to them and the farm was unmatched.

"Alright! I'm gonna let ya'll in the fence here. Remember the chocobo picks you. You don't pick it." Billy reminded them.

"Right, but remember that these two will _not_ ride a full size one." Cloud insisted. Billy laughed.

"We'll see Cloud Strife! We'll see!" Billy pounded Cloud on the back before opening up the stable gates.

"Be careful! Here, you two stay with me." Cloud said grabbing both Marlene and Denzel by the shoulders.

"Damn Tifa, you sure got you some fine legs. I'd just 'bout bet you got the finest legs of any woman I ever seen." Billy said candidly. Naturally, that sent Cloud into an internal two-year-old toddler 'this is mine' fit. He let go of Denzel and Marlene and allowed them to join Billy because he felt the need to grab ahold of Tifa.

"See? You're shorts are entirely too short!" he whispered to her. Tifa sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah, well it was your choice this morning to send me into public with these." She reminded him trying to squirm free.

"Damn it! It was!" Cloud mumbled as he remembered that in fact it WAS his stupid idea.

"Alright, son. You stand right here. Sweetie, you stand right over here. Now we wait. Chocobo's were domesticated hundreds and hundreds of years ago; they trained to be curious when it comes to people." Billy said. Marlene and Denzel looked around at the grazing chocobos.

"Will they bite?" Denzel asked.

"Not unless you make 'em mad." Billy said. "Son, you just stand there and you don't got a thing to worry about." Billy laughed at these 'city folk's' naivety.

The four of them hadn't been standing around too long when Billy noticed a rather young yellow chocobo slowly walking toward Cloud. It was as if the chocobo were examining Cloud all over before getting too terribly close. It would reach out it's neck as far as it could before taking a step. Denzel watched it carefully as it gave out a tiny chirp and got closer to Cloud.

"Now, ya'll just stand there and watch 'er." Billy said.

"How do you know it's a she?" Denzel asked.

"Well, son you can tell by lookin' at them there beaks. See, that one has a big, wide beak. All the females have wide beaks and the males have narrow beaks. Now look, that chocobo wants to be friendly." Billy said hearing the beautiful yellow bird chirp louder. She was a little taller than Cloud as she was close enough to the four of them to really appreciate her size. She jammed her yellow head in to Cloud's shoulder.

"Oh crap…" he muttered to himself. The bird warbled louder and headbutted Cloud again. "Tifa…Tifa this…this bird is…this bird is choosing me. Tifa help. I don't want to be picked. Please make this bird like you instead." The bird became more excited and warbled louder as it pushed it's head across Cloud's back nearly making him lose his balance. Cloud tried his best not to pet this yellow chocobo but it was hard not to when it was rubbing all over him. Marlene and Denzel laughed at Cloud. It finally and successfully knocked Cloud to the ground and was cooing happily as it wallowed him to death. That made Marlene and Denzel laugh even harder.

"Marlene! This is not funny!" Cloud said trying to free himself from a yellow-feathery prison.

"It's hilarious!" Marlene said through her laughter.

"I tell ya…Cloud Strife that bird's in love with you. You know it's true love when somethin' wrastles ya' to the ground, and gets on top of ya'. What do you think Tifa?" Billy asked. Tifa sighed and laughed at the fact that this bird thought Cloud was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

"Oh Billy, if only I had one gil for every time that's happened to me…" Tifa said. There was a pair of young twin blue chocobos of which one of them was beginning to take interest in Denzel. Marlene gasped when she saw it out of the corner of her eye.

"Denzel, that one kinda' likes you. But not as much as that one loves Cloud." Marlene giggled again. The yellow chocobo laid down beside Cloud and rested her head on his stomach. Clearly, Cloud was going nowhere.

"Cloud Strife, that's some fancy ring you wear. Where does a man get somethin' like that?" Billy asked noticing Cloud's wedding band.

"It's Platinum, Billy. That's my wedding ring. Oh my god, please get off of me!" Cloud told Billy and then the chocobo.

"Cloud Strife you don't tell that bird what to do! You oughtta remember that!" Billy scolded him as the chocobo playfully and lovingly pecked Cloud's shoulder.

"Tifa, I'm begging you…get this thing off me!" Cloud asked of her. "I don't want to be loved and accepted by this bird!"

"You're doing just fine." Tifa said calmly watching one of the twins examine Denzel. The young blue chocobo brushed it's head against Denzel's back.

"Oh, this is cool!" Denzel said not hesitating at all to pet the bird that had just chosen him.

"Aww, he's sweet Denzel." Marlene said. Cloud finally managed to turn around and look at Denzel as he sat there in the grass but that only made the chocobo jealous and she warbled louder and pushed Cloud back down with her massive head.

"See? What'd I tell ya? Chocobo's love people. Ooooh, Tifa. Don't turn around. You about to get you one fine lookin' man." Billy said commenting on the beautiful and huge black bird that was slowly approaching Tifa.

"Okay…okay excuse me….excuse….oooh damn it…you have to let me up!" the bird just cooed happily. "Yes, yes I love you too but….this isn't working out." Cloud said petting and pushing on this bird at the same time.

"Son, get on that bird! He wants ya' to ride him." Billy told him. Billy walked over closer to Cloud.

"Can I Tifa?" Denzel asked her since clearly, Tifa and Cloud didn't agree on this.

"I guess you can. But, watch me first." Tifa said. As the marvelous black chocobo got closer to her another yellow chocobo had finally taken interest in Marlene.

"Cloud Strife, no wonder that bird loves you so much. You smell sweeter than then country air on a dewy mornin'." Billy remarked.

"Thanks, Billy….no other man has ever told me that. Oh my god…finally!" Cloud said breaking free of his feathery confines only to see Tifa carefully touching the black bird's neck. It actually intimidated Cloud a little seeing the sheer size of that bird. It's feet were massive and it's talons dangerous.

"Come here you rascal! Cloud Strife don't love ya like I do! Nope! No he don't!" Billy said teasing the bird.

"Tifa, I think it likes you." Marlene whispered.

"I know. Look how calm it is." Tifa said still petting the bird. Gently, the black bird submitted to Tifa. She knew that the bird's actions meant that it waned her to ride it. "Billy, is it okay?" Tifa asked. Billy knew what she meant.

"Well, of course. That bird's gonna let ya." Billy assured her.

"Okay, you two watch me." She said to both Marlene and Denzel. Tifa gripped the thick feathers on the side of this bird's head and slung her leg over it's wide back, grabbing the other side of it's neck. While this was happening, Marlene didn't even notice the green chocobo that was trying to get her attention. The black chocobo rose up, startling Tifa. She had forgotten what it was like to be this high off the ground. It had been a long time. "Oh my god…" Tifa mumbled mostly to herself as she remembered what a rush this was.

"Tifa, don't hurt him!" Marlene warned her seeing Tifa squeeze the thick feathers on the size of the birds neck.

"It's okay sweetheart. Chocobos have thick feathers on their necks. They built for that kinda thing." Billy assured her.

"Oh! Hi there! I didn't see you!" Marlene said to the green bird that had jammed its head underneath her arm.

"Yep, Cloud Strife…those are some damn fine legs on your woman." Billy told him. "Come to think of it…Cloud Strife…that is one damn fine woman all over. You a lucky man, you know that?"

"Yes, yes Billy that's uh…that's my wife…not a piece of meat." Cloud reminded him. He watched Tifa slowly guided the bird away from them. She leaned forward, gripping the thick skin around its neck a little firmer. The pace was slow, like a trot. Tifa let the marvelous bird dictate it's own pace, ensuring the black chocobo that she trusted it.

As Cloud watched that chocobo take Tifa farther away from he, Marlene and Denzel; he felt a sudden since of insecurity flood him. She was the most beautiful woman in the world, but not even he could tame her right now. Suddenly, the black chocobo broke out into an all out run. She looked so free, yet so in control. She looked as if the entire countryside were meant only for her and that brilliant black bird. Cloud felt so small and undeserving. She truly was his steel bars.

Many apologies (again) for the slow update! I've had a lot of things going on and have been updating a couple other fics. My apologies for any typos as I did no proof this chapter as carefully as I should have. If you see anything major that I messed up please let me know. Thanks!


	8. Fire Light

"You two are going to light yourselves on fire." Tifa said as she opened up a bag of marshmallows.

"You're going to end up in a sugar coma." Cloud said referring to the fact that Tifa was eating more chocolate than she was saving it for the s'mores the kids wanted to make.

"Oh, shut up. How about this? How about I don't care when you two end up with your shorts on fire because you just keep pouring lighter fluid on that stupid fire?" Tifa said opening another chocolate bar and splitting it with Marlene.

"That's it…make Marlene fat!" Cloud said emptying the lighter fluid on the fire. Tifa darted her eyes around to make sure the kids weren't looking before she flipped her own husband off.

"You wish, Tifa….you wish. This is a G rated activity."

"You just watch, Cloud. I'll go get the other bottle of champagne and I'll change that rating real fast." Tifa said walking off to get just that very thing.

"I want to come with you and get more graham crackers." Marlene said hurrying after Tifa. Denzel and Cloud had built their bonfire at the edge of the Mythrill Lake.

"Should I get some more wood?" Denzel asked.

"Hmm…we might need a little more. Did you have fun today?" Cloud asked him.

"Did I ever! My legs are still sore from riding the chocobo! I wish Tifa would let us get one to raise ourselves." Denzel said. "Hey Cloud, did you and Zack ever do anything together out here in the country?" Cloud smiled remembering the time he and Zack had spent in Junon, in Nibelheim and in countless horrible Shinra issue vehicles. Those damn things didn't have any shocks and those that did were worn out as hell. It was like riding through the countryside on a bed of rocks. Zack never did get a chance to meet Cloud's mother or taste her unbelievable chipped beef pie. It was a native NIbelheim dish and honestly, Tifa made it even better than Elyria Strife but Cloud would have never said such a thing out loud. Zack would have loved it. "Cloud?" Denzel repeated.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…yeah we did Denzel. We had some fun times traveling together." It brought a bit of laughter from Cloud. "Did I ever tell you about how I used to get motion sickness? Zack would always want me to eat something. I can still hear him. Man, you gotta somethin' and you'll feel better. You gotta get over this, man." Cloud laughed again. "Well, one time I did actually eat somethin'…and I threw up ten minutes later. Zack never told me to eat anything again." Denzel laughed. Cloud shook his head. "I hope you're…I hope you're just like him." Cloud thought about what he had said. "Wait…okay, _almost_…just like him. God, there were nights Zack would just never, never shut up and go to sleep. He would have twenty topics to hit."

"That many?" Denzel asked as he made a miserable looking s'more.

"Eighteen out of twenty were women so, I guess it was just two." Cloud smiled and shook his head again. "No, I changed my mind again…I'd rather you be just like him."

"Don't get mad, Cloud but…I'd rather be just like you." Denzel said honestly. Cloud looked at him. He couldn't understand why Denzel would ever want to be like him. He was a miserable failure, right? Well, he was the only one in the world who thought that. And no father ever truly realizes how much their sons crave their attention and their approval and how much their son wants to be them...until they hear their sons say it like this. Cloud could feel his heart push into his throat. He reached his arms out to Denzel and hugged him tight.

"S'more?" Denzel asked throwing an arm over Cloud and displaying the horrible looking snack to him.

"Denzel, you uh, you know I love you right?" Cloud asked.

"Uh huh." Denzel answered him.

"Good. That thing looks like you ran over it with a truck and then rolled it all over the ground so…no."

"Let me taste it!" Marlene begged of Tifa as champagne glugged into the plastic glass.

"Why do you want to taste this?" Tifa asked her.

"Because it smells good." Marlene said.

"Okay. This is our secret. You can't tell Cloud do you hear me?" Tifa warned her. Marlene had been nagging Tifa for a good seven minutes.

"Yeah!" Marlene said excitedly. Tifa started to hand her the glass but pulled it back away.

"Wait, one small taste. That's it. Do you hear me Marlene Eleanor?" Tifa insisted, still not one hundred percent on this.

"Yes!" Marlene said smiling.

"Alright, here. Get it over with." Tifa said handing over the cup. "Not so big, Marlene!" Tifa scolded her but quickly laughed at the look on Marlene's face. Marlene looked as if she were about to gag. It tickled Tifa to the point where she almost encouraged Marlene to take another drink.

"Eeewwww! Tifa! That's disgusting!" Marlene said handing the cup back and wiping her mouth on her arm. Tifa laughed at her.

"I told you a hundred times you wouldn't like it." Tifa said.

"But why does it smell so good?" Marlene questioned.

"It just does, sweetie. Here hold this. Don't let that cork come out. Take this bag too. And these." Tifa said filling Marlene's hands.

"Does Cloud like this stuff too?" Marlene asked as she examined the champagne bottle.

"It's not his favorite but he's okay with it." Tifa said flipping the lights out in the kitchen. Marlene yawned.

"What's his favorite?" Marlene asked. Tifa laughed. Sometimes she simply asked too many questions. Cloud's favorite….it wasn't his favorite because he was a lightweight and only four messed him up in no time. It was his favorite because it had been Zack's favorite. It was a beer brewed in in Gongaga with a strangely sweet and nutty finish. It was deceiving because it was strong and went to your head fast. Zack could drink circles around Cloud.

"Marlene, I'm already the worst mother ever for giving my thirteen-year-old a drink of champagne. I'm not telling you that." Tifa said.

"But why? It's not like I'm all little!" Marlene said leaning up against the cabin door.

"Go!" Tifa said pointing at the door. "I'll tell you when you're sixteen."

"But that's three years! Do you have any idea how much Aunt Yuffie will tell me that you won't between now and then!" Marlene giggled. Tifa shook her head and rolled her eyes

"Sometimes, I wish your aunt would keep her mouth shut some times." Tifa mumbled as she followed Marlene back outside.

"We had a big day today, didn't we?" Marlene asked as she followed Tifa back toward the fire.

"We sure did." Tifa said taking the champagne, a bag of chocolate and the plastic glasses from Marlene. She walked over to Cloud as Marlene emptied her hands on the ground away from the fire.

"That cost 36 gil a bottle and you poured it into plastic glasses? Is that another bag of chocolate bars?" Cloud asked taking the bag from her.

"Yes and yes." Tifa said pouring him a glass. "Don't you even think I'm sharing that bag of chocolate with you." Tifa teased him.

"What else did you bring out? What did Marlene put down over there?" Cloud asked taking the plastic glass from Tifa.

"A bag of barbecue chips, a bag of gummi bears, and a couple packages of those snack cake things." She said opening the chocolate. Cloud took a long drink of champagne.

"Marlene, bring me everything you just put down." He asked of her. She huffed and gathered everything up in her hands once more.

"I know Tifa brought champagne but what's your favorite drink?" Marlene asked hoping that Cloud would tell her.

"Reactor Red. Thanks" Cloud answered her without hesitation and taking everything in her hands. Tifa rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Well, so much for another fifteen percent of Marlene's innocence." Marlene laughed.

"Good, Tifa wouldn't tell me. I'm going to make a s'more now." She was thrilled that she had gotten the information she wanted. The beer had gotten its name long ago in Gongaga after the mako reactor was built. The distillery wasn't even five miles from the reactor site and as the unrefined mako energy was pumped from the earth; iron came with it; thus turning the ground near the reactor and the distillery a rich orange-red color. Zack had told Cloud all about it several years before.

"Just like that….you told 'er…just like…it was…the amount of the water bill?" Tifa questioned taking a drink of champagne.

"Mmm…I bet that's in our mailbox, by the way. You drink some more of that champagne and you won't care." Cloud promised her.

"Oooh Cloud. We are the worst parents in the world." Tifa sighed, disappointed in herself.

"No, no, no, no….we aren't. That couple down the street that seems to have a baby every year and blatantly deals drugs out their back door are the worst parents ever! We are…we are saints compared to them!" Cloud defended he and Tifa.

"I strangely feel better now." Tifa admitted, though she wasn't certain at all why that comment made her feel more responsible. Tifa watched Marlene carefully assemble her s'more. She was far too clever for her own good and that both worried and delighted Tifa at the same time. It was so apparent: Marlene was 'quick on her toes' so to speak and a bit of a sarcastic. Tifa thought she was more like Cloud than herself. Even furthermore, she even still saw many traits of Barret in Marlene. Denzel on the other hand was passive, gentle, and even sometimes shy. Tifa thought he was more like her but she didn't really know how it had turned out that way.

"Tifa, I love these snack cakes. I love them even more with champagne." Cloud said. Tifa sighed.

"You know, not only do we drink in front of them, but we eat crap. We're going to have two children with diabetes and heart disease by the time they are sixteen." Tifa said, once again disappointed in herself.

"Oh god these are the cream filled ones." Cloud said seemingly not hearing a word Tifa said. "And no, not true! Last week Marlene took applesauce, carrot sticks, and a peanut butter sandwich in her lunch and Denzel took apple slices, a cheese sandwich and yogurt. See how…super involved I am? You can't ever accuse me of being one of those dads who doesn't pack lunches or…pack more lunches. Besides, you're still standing there inhaling chocolate." Cloud pointed his cup at her. Tifa laughed.

"Well, they do get good meals most of the time. That is, until they go to their aunt's. And I'll inhale this chocolate if I want. I'm starting in on those gummi bears next." Tifa said crumpling up a wrapper and grabbing another bar.

"Come sit on my lap." Cloud said.

"I can't sit on your lap in that chair!" Tifa insisted. Cloud got up and sat on the ground beside his chair.

"Come sit on my lap." He repeated.

"Okay, now that I can do." Tifa said trying not to spill champagne and chocolate all over Cloud as she sat down with him. He kissed her neck.

"You didn't have that chocobo up to full speed today." He told her.

'You're right I didn't." Tifa answered.

"Why not?" Cloud asked her as he dug the cream filling out of the center of the cake. She never understood why he ate them that way but she wasn't about to question it. It was one of Cloud's many quirks.

"I didn't fully trust myself. It's been a long time. That bird was strong and fast. I wasn't about to let it run at its full speed." Tifa explained.

"Did you pack any more of these cakes?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah. I threw the whole box into a bag." Tifa said.

"Oh wow. I knew I married you for a reason." Cloud said taking the other cake out of the wrapper and taking one bite of it. It was just enough to scrape the cream filling out.

"I'm eating the last s'more!" Marlene announced.

"Believe me, that is quite alright." Cloud mumbled seeing as how both Denzel and Marlene were perhaps the worst s'more makers ever.

"Cloud are you going to throw with me tomorrow?" Denzel asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Denzel. I catch it. You're the one working on your pitch. I just catch it for you." Cloud said.

"Hey! I have an idea! How about I teach you to pitch too!" Denzel said happily.

"How about no." Cloud said chasing his snack cake with champagne. "Denzel, do we still owe your little league fee? Did your coach tell you if we paid it?" Cloud asked him.

"No, I still owe it. It's 35 gil." Denzel said.

"Honey, what's that for?" Tifa asked.

"Our uniform and use of the practice field." Denzel said. "Oh, by the way, my cleats are getting too small too.

"Sleep with the coach, Tifa. Use whatcha got." Cloud told her softly poking her sides.

"Mmm…bet you wish you had agreed to coach now, don't ya?" she said taking another drink. "I'll write him a check for the fee and take him to get new cleats next week." She told him. "Denzel, I'll send a check with you to your Monday practice." Tifa told him.

"You're probably right…we need to save your body for when it really matters…like when Marlene wants a convertible." Cloud told her.

"Cloud, shut up. And slow down on that champagne! My god, you drink so fast and you're small so….there's not many places for it to go!" Tifa insisted.

"Just for that…I'm not puttin' out." Cloud told her. Tifa just laughed.

"Oh my god…yeah…whatever." She said through her laughter. "Hell would freeze over first, Cloud."

"Hey, I'm cold, I'm going inside." Marlene said walking over to Cloud and Tifa.

"Will you do something for me first? Will you bring me those two blankets laying on the couch?" Tifa asked of her.

"Okay." Marlene agreed. She headed toward the cabin. It didn't take her long to return with her hands crammed full of blankets. She waddled back outside, dragging the edge of one of the blankets through the dirt and the grass. It took her a moment to make her way back to where Cloud and Tifa were sitting near the fire. "Here!" she said throwing the blankets down.

"Thanks honey." Tifa said.

"I'm going inside now." Marlene said.

"Wait…are you going to bed?" Cloud asked her.

"Maaaaybe." Marlene answered him.

"Well, if you do goodnight." Cloud told her.

"Goodnight." Marlene said before heading back toward the house. Tifa wound herself up in the fleece blanket.

"Thanks for offering me some of that blanket." Cloud told her.

"Like you would have even wanted any. You're never cold." Tifa said taking another drink of her champagne.

"Well, yeah. But, picture where my hands could be right now." Cloud said.

"Oh my god, you're tipsy after like…five drinks of champagne. You're such a girl. You…are a total girl." Tifa accused him.

"I can prove to you in about 20 seconds that I'm not." Cloud promised her.

"Tifa…please. You work in a BAR. I work behind a computer from nine to five and you drink with customers from nine to five." Cloud said. Tifa slapped him as hard as she could.

"I do NOT drink with my customers, Cloud Strife! You're just jealous that I have far more tolerance than you'll even have." she insisted.

"Don't point your finger at me. That sets a bad example for Denzel." Cloud said.

"Right….like he's watching this." Tifa said. "Besides, you're the ultimate in bad examples."

"I'm going to bed too. I put the leftover marshmallows over there. I'm pretty tired after today." Denzel admitted walking over to Cloud and Tifa.

"Okay, we'll be in after while, okay?" Tifa reassured him. Denzel shook his head.

"I had a lot of fun today. I really love the chocobos." Denzel admitted. Tifa laughed at him.

"I'm glad you did, honey. Good night." Tifa told him.

" 'Night, Tifa." Denzel said before hurrying to the cabin. Cloud watched Denzel walk toward the cabin.

"I worry sometimes…that they're growing up too fast." Cloud admitted once Denzel was out of earshot.

"We always knew that they would. Even when we didn't want to admit it…we knew they'd grow up." Tifa confessed.

"I know…" it seemed as if Cloud had more to say but there was silence between eh and Tifa as the fire crackled and the frogs chirped in the distance. "Zack…he talked to me…the whole time I was unconscious….he talked to me." Cloud said a bit out of nowhere. "He would talk about Aerith…on and on and on he'd talk about her." Cloud laughed. "Zack…wanted to have three daughters. It figures, that he of all people would want to have girls. He…he even had their names picked out. He'd talk about it all the time…about how he wanted Aerith to have his daughters. Angela Hewleigh, Valerie Annette and Aerith Elmyra…but he would always say they'd call her Elmyra and not Aerith." Cloud laughed again. "God…that…that's burned into my brain…him talkin' about that. Every one of those girls would have had black hair and blue eyes." Cloud was caught up in this and frankly, Tifa was quite enamored with it.

"Come on Cloud, one of them would have been a brunette." Tifa said.

"I always pictured Zack having two boys and a girl but he was dead set on havin' three girls." Cloud said. "Knowing him…he woulda' done it too. Yeah, maybe…maybe one of them would have been a brunette. I don't know though Tifa, Fair genes….they woulda' been strong." Cloud put his arms around Tifa and made his way underneath the blanket with her. "He would have liked Marlene and Denzel." He said a bit reminiscently.

"You're wrong, babe…he would have loved them." Tifa said honestly.

"Yeah…" Cloud said gazing up at a thousand stars that dotted the sky. "…Tifa…you know I never thought I'd raising two kids with you, right?"

"I know…I never thought it either." Tifa admitted. Cloud kissed her neck. "It's so beautiful out here. You just don't see stars over Midgar like this." She whispered as she felt Clouds lips all over her neck. She wasn't sure which was more soothing, Clouds lips or the stars above this vast expanse of land.

"I could fuck you in about three minutes right now, you know that, right?" Cloud told her. Tifa laughed sweetly.

"No…you need ten." Tifa said.

"No…YOU need ten…I need three." Cloud said. Tifa laughed again. His kiss was so tender against her skin.

"I'll give you three minutes." Tifa said letting her hands wander behind her to Cloud.

"Oh…my god are you serious? I was just…kinda messin' with…yeah okay." Cloud said kissing her neck again before pulling her down to the ground with him in a mass of blankets. Tifa moaned and pulled him on top of her and let her hands roam down his back. She moaned again softly as she felt his shorts slide down her hips.

"Oh wow…that's hot." Tifa whispered seeing as it took Cloud merely seconds to shove into her. "Cloud…." Her voice was breathy and infatuated with him. It wasn't that she was all ready and 'warmed up' for him….it was the excitement of the spontaneity…not to mention the location…out here under a wide open sky. She held on to his shoulders tightly. His champagne soaked breath hit her chin and an even sweeter tongue teased her own. Cloud's sighs were deep in his throat and the harder he moaned for her the more it excited Tifa.

"Oooh….oooooh…" Cloud looked at her and took a deep breath before exhaling all over her. "Okay…that was…that was like two minutes…not three…" Cloud confessed. Tifa smiled and pulled him tighter against her.

"I love you." She said, her lips grazing his ear.


	9. What's An Inning?

"Hey, I'm so sorry. Of all days…." Yuffie interrupted Cloud.

"Move! Move! Denzel's getting' ready to pitch this inning! Just sit! Sit!" Yuffie said practically spilling her 'stadium pack' of hotdogs, value-sized beverages and popcorn all over the place despite the fact that this was merely the Midgar Municipal Ball Field and anything but a stadium.

"I just feel bad, Yuffie. You've had these two all day since Tifa's working overtime and I was called in because of that massive shipping error." Cloud explained. It was true that Marlene and Denzel had been with Yuffie since the morning and neither Cloud nor Tifa had intended to obligate her to take and watch Denzel's baseball game. It had just happened that way. What began as a two hour problem for Cloud turned into a half-day problem.

"I don't care Cloud! Here, you want a hot dog. You can't have that one though, it has relish and I love relish." Yuffie said singling out the one he couldn't have.

"Why do you have a tray of eight hotdogs?" Cloud asked her taking one of them that he _was_ allowed to have.

"Because, it's 4 gil cheaper to buy the pack of eight instead of getting two for me and two for Marlene, plus the drinks and you get the massive popcorn size. Come on Cloud, look alive. You're supposed to be good at managing money and stuff!" Yuffie scolded him.

"Have you been good?" Cloud asked Marlene taking her drink from her. Marlene shook her head.

"Eww, what is that?" Cloud asked her handing Marlene's drink back over.

"Purple drink stuff!" Marlene said giggling.

"Well, it's awful. Here, go get me…get me um…a pop or something that isn't what you have." Cloud told her handing over a couple bills to Marlene.

"Alright, but if I miss Denzel's first pitch it's your fault!" Marlene said pointing a finger at Cloud before she shimmied her way down the bleachers.

"How was the chocobo farm?" Yuffie asked diving in to her relish, ketchup and mustard clad hotdog.

"It was great. We had a wonderful time. Tifa rode a black chocobo. The kids went crazy over those birds." Cloud said.

"That's nice you took them. You're gonna let me take 'em to Wutai sometime right?" Yuffie asked eagerly.

"No." Cloud said not even hesitating the slightest.

"You're a total stick in the mud." Yuffie shook her head.

"So…how long does one of these things last?" Cloud asked, completely clueless.

"What an inning?" Yuffie asked.

"No, I have clue what an inning is, I mean this game." Cloud said. Yuffie shook her head.

"Oh my god, baseball is made up of innings, stupid. Innings are divided into two halves, one team bats the over plays the field." Yuffies explained.

"Okay, how many of those are there?" Cloud asked.

"it doesn't work that way! There are nine innings and they play extra innings if they are tied. Did you never play any sports as a kid? Or…watch any sports or…watch other little boys play any sports?" Yuffie asked. Cloud threw a paper napkin in Yuffie's box and took another hotdog.

"Yuffie…I was too little… keep up with the other boys. I can knit though, did you know I could knit? I knitted a potholder when I was seven. Think about that…uh-huh…" Cloud said pointing at her. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"You better be glad you have a smokin' body."

"Here." Marlene said handing Cloud his drink and a few loose coins.

"So you seriously know nothing about baseball?" Yuffie asked.

"I don't know anything about baseball, I don't know anything about soccer, I don't know anything about that other thing Denzel tried out for and I don't want to know. Ask me about bikes, that's what I know about Yuffie. Bikes and women…that's me in twenty words or less." Cloud told her.

"Cloud, you are so! full of it. First, you've never known ANYTHING about women and secondly, you in twenty words or less sounds more like…." Cloud interrupted her.

"Mmm…mm….no….don't even say it out loud because Marlene is sitting right here and I know what will leave your mouth isn't suitable for a little girl's ears."

"Hey! I'm not little!" Marlene insisted.

"I know you're not…but still. Okay, Yuffie what's happening right now?" Cloud asked?

"Well…CLOUD….you're son's getting ready to pitch…YEEEEEAAAAAH! GO DENZEL LOYD! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! SWING BATTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Yuffie screamed at the top of her lungs. Cloud looked at her with a well beyond mortified look.

"Oh my god….I can never come back to this place…." Cloud mumbled into his hands.

"Cloud! You're a bigger buzz kill than my boyfriend when he interrupts my soaps!" Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Would you just watch your boy! He's so good at this, Cloud!"

"He really is. No wonder you whine that your hand stings half the time you and Denzel practice his pitching in the back alley." Marlene said. Cloud shook his head.

"I need to hang out with different people. Well, seriously Yuffie. Thanks for taking care of everything today." Cloud was sincere.

"You're welcome." Yuffie assured him. "Marlene, come here your bow's about to come out. God only knows your father can't handle fixing it." Yuffie took a shot at every chance she could get.

"No! Marlene, Come here. I'll re-tie your bow. Watch this. Yuffie, you gonna eat your words when you see how good I am at this." Cloud said. Marlene squirmed around the bleachers until she was on Cloud's lap. "Now watch, Yuffie, watch!" he insisted. Yuffie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Ow! Don't pull on it!" Marlene said.

"I'm not pulling on it. Hold still. Aaaaaaaand. There. Look! Look, Yuffie. Now is that a bow or is that a bow? Huh? You're speechless. I knew it." Cloud said shoving the back of Marlene's head toward Yuffie.

"What kind of bargain did Tifa have to cut with you…to get you to fix your child's hair in the mornings before school? Because, obviously….that's how you've learned this skill." Yuffie said. Cloud laughed at her a bit stupidly.

"Oh, it's a good bargain…everybody wins." He admitted to her.

"You're such an idiot. YEEEEEEEEEEAH!" Yuffie stood up screaming again because Denzel had just struck someone out.

"God, that other kid probably feels like a total loser right now." Cloud remarked hearing that most of the people around him were quite clearly against the other team of twelve-year-olds. Ah, parents and their cutthroat thirst for pre-adolescent sports.

It was around 6:30 that night when Cloud and the kids finally got home. Tifa was still working downstairs and the bar was so busy in fact that she hadn't had a chance to call and see if anyone was home yet. "Denzel, leave those cleats out here. They're a mess." Cloud instructed him as he shoved the key in their door. "Oh, and put those pants on the washer. Something tells me that dirt stain will be near impossible to get out. Listen, will you two be okay? I need to go work on Fenrir for about an hour. It's got a Freon leak.

"Can I change clothes and help! Please? Can I!" Denzel begged throwing his hat on the couch and pulling his shirt off.

"Yeah, okay." Cloud told him.

"Don't worry, Cloud. I'll get that stain out of Denzel's pants. Tifa showed me what to do." Marlene insisted.

"Alright. Denzel, I'm going to change clothes. Tell me when you're ready." Cloud told him. Knowing Denzel, he'd be ready to work on the bike in a matter of seconds. He loved helping Cloud on Fenrir.

"When's Tifa coming home tonight?" Marlene asked loudly since Cloud was in the other room.

"It will probably be pretty late." Cloud yelled back at her. Marlene grabbed the phone off the kitchen counter and took Denzel's ball pants to the washer. Tifa had shown her how to do this a hundred times before. She dialed the phone and punched the speaker button.

"Hi." She said slathering Denzel's pants in something green.

"Hi Marlene. Mama told me you all went to the chocobo farm?" It was Barret on the other end.

"We did! And it was fun. Cloud got a chocobo friend and she pushed him over and rolled all over him. It was great!" Marlene laughed.

"Okay, I'm ready." Denzel said going in to Cloud and Tifa's room.

"Alright, you go on downstairs. I need to find an older shirt than these." Cloud continued digging through a drawer. Indeed Marlene was right as she talked to Barret. It had been a great trip. It had been a great day. Those kids had the best parents in the world and they all had the best friends….anyone could ask for.

* * *

My apologies for the painfully slow update, the miserably short chapter and I'll go ahead and apologize for typos because this chapter was proofed very quickly. I changed my mine so many freakin' times about how I wanted to end this that I just finished my final thoughts and uploaded. I'll warn you now, my next story is in the works as of yesterday but I don't know when I'll get the first chapter up. Also, here's a hint….it will be starting out pretty damn intensely so be prepare yourself for some heavy stuff! Thanks for reading everyone!


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